Structure of the ELN Foundation

Professor Michele Baccarani, MD, University of Bologna, Italy
Michele Baccarani is Professor of Hematology at the University of Bologna, and Head of the Department of Hematology and Oncology “L. and A. Seràgnoli” at the S. Orsola-Malpighi University Hospital, Bologna, Italy. Professor Baccarani studied hematology at Modena University and served his residencies at the L. and A. Seràgnoli Institute of Hematology in Bologna. In the early 1980s, he was Professor of Cancer Chemotherapy at Chieti University. He later became Professor of Hematology at Trieste University. At Udine University, he was the Head of Hematology and Bone Marrow Transplantation. He returned to the University of Bologna in 2000 to head the Institute of Hematology and Medical Oncology. Professor Baccarani is past-President of the Italian Society of Experimental Hematology and the Italian Society of Hematology. Professor Baccarani has been chairman of GIMEMA CML (Gruppo Italiano Malattie Ematologiche dell'Adulto) Working Party for more than 10 years.

Professor Tiziano Barbui, MD, Research Foundation at Ospedali Riuniti di Bergamo, Italy
Tiziano Barbui is Professor of Hematology and Scientific Director of the Research Foundation at Ospedali Riuniti di Bergamo (Italy). From 1981 until 2008 he was head of Department of Hematology at the Ospedali Riuniti di Bergamo. He has served as a chairman on the Subcommittee on Lupus Anticoagulant of the International Society of Thrombosis and Haemostasis, and as President of the Italian Society of Haematology. Currently, he leads the Italian GIMEMA group and the European-Leukemia-Net WP-9 on Myeloproliferative Disorders. His research interest includes genetic and acquired thrombophilic disorders, therapy of acute leukemias and Ph-negative myeloproliferative neoplasms. He has been interested in the optimisation of Polycythemia Vera and Essential Thrombocytemia therapy and has been the principal investigator in several academic clinical trials.

Professor Thomas Büchner, University of Münster, Germany
Thomas Büchner is Professor of Hematology at the University of Münster, Germany. Born in Berlin he studied medicine in Munich, Innsbruck, Vienna and Freiburg where he graduated as MD. After moving to Münster and by an experimental study on “Inflammatory Cells in Blood and Tissue” he achieved his PhD (Habilitation). In 1978 T. B. created the AML Cooperative Group (AMLCG) and coordinated until today a series of multicenter, randomized trials on AML, repeatedly presented and published. T.B. is speaker of the German AML Intergroup, lead participant in the ELN and member in the European Hematology Association (EHA), American Society of Hematology (ASH), American Society for Cancer Research (AACR), and American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO). He has been awarded the Theodor-Frerichs-Price of the German Society of Internal Medicine (DGIM) and an honorary membership of the German Society of Hematology and Oncology (DGHO).

Professor David Grimwade, King’s College London, UK
David Grimwade is Professor of Molecular Haematology in the Department of Medical and Molecular Genetics, King’s College London School of Medicine and Honorary Consultant Haematologist in Guy’s and St. Thomas’ NHS Foundation trust. His research interests include the molecular pathogenesis of acute promyelocytic leukaemia, identification of prognostic factors in acute myeloid leukaemia (AML), characterising mechanisms underlying leukaemia-associated chromosomal translocations and evaluation of minimal residual disease (MRD) detection using quantitative PCR to direct treatment approach. He coordinates molecular diagnostics in the UK National Cancer Research Institute AML trials. He leads the MRD Workpackage of the European LeukemiaNet, which comprises a network of 28 labs spread across 12 countries involved in development, optimisation and standardisation of quantitative PCR assays to improve the management of patients with myeloid malignancies.

Professor Francois Guilhot, MD, University Hospital Center, Poitiers, France
Francois Guilhot is Director of the Clinical Investigation Center (CIC) 802 INSERM and Head of theDepartment of Oncology, Hematology and Cell Therapy at the Centre Hospitalier Universitaire (University Hospital Center) of Poitiers, France. Professor Guilhot studied medicine at the University of Paris, obtaining a Masters of Human Biology in Hematology and a medical doctorate. He was Assistant Professor at l’Hôpital La Milétrie, Poitiers in the 1980s and later became Professor of Clinical Hematology and Head of the Bone Marrow Transplant Unit at the same hospital. Professor Guilhot was granted the first Award of the French Society of Hematology for Clinical Research in 1997, and is President of the Chronic Myelogenous Leukemia French Group. Professor Guilhot has been involved in the European LeukemiaNet as a member of the work package 4 devoted to research in CML. He is also a member of the Executive Committee of European Treatment and Outcomes Study (EUTOS) for CML and in addition in charge of the therapeutic monitoring working group.

Professor Rüdiger Hehlmann, MD, Mannheim, Germany
Rüdiger Hehlmann is Professor of Medicine at the Mannheim Medical Faculty of the University Heidelberg. He is coordinator of the German CML Study Group. This group has conducted major randomized studies on the treatment of chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) over the past 26 years. Professor Hehlmann is past president of the German Society of Hematology and Oncology, past dean of his faculty and is currently Secretary General of the International Association of Comparative Research on Leukemia and Related Diseases. He is coordinator of the Competence Network on acute and chronic leukemias in Germany and also coordinates the Network of Excellence European LeukemiaNet to promote cooperation across Europe.

Professor Andreas Hochhaus, MD, Jena, Germany
Professor Andreas Hochhaus is Director of the Dept. Hematolgy/Oncology at the University Hospital and Director of the UniversitätsTumorCentrum (UTC) in Jena, Germany. Until 2009 he was Professor of internal medicine, hematology and oncology and head of the Leukemia Research Department at the Medical Faculty Mannheim of the University Heidelberg. A José Carreras professorship for leukemia research was awarded in 2007.
He has been interested in treatment optimization of chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML) for more than 20 years, has been Investigator or Co-Investigator in several Phase I, II, III and IV studies and involved in the management of the randomized CML Studies of the German CML Study Group. His special interests are the molecular monitoring of minimal residual disease and mechanisms of resistance in CML. Dr. Hochhaus is a member of the American Society of Hematology, the American Society of Clinical Oncology, the European Hematology Association, the International Association for Comparative Research on Leukemia and Related Disorders and the German Society for Hematology and Oncology.

Professor Dieter Hoelzer, MD, Onkologikum Frankfurt am Museumsufer, Germany
Dieter Hoelzer is Professor of Medicine and Hematology and Director of the Onkologikum Frankfurt am Museumsufer. From 1984 until 2007 he was Head of the Department for Hematology/Oncology, Rheumatology, and Infectious Diseases at the University of Frankfurt. In 1981 he founded the German Adult ALL Study Group (GMALL) which so far conducted 7 multicenter studies in >120 participating hospitals and more than 5000 treated patients. He was coordinator of the Frankfurt AIDS Research Group “Pathophysiology and Treatment of AIDS”, Head of the DFG Clinical Research Group “Regulation of the proliferation and differentiation of haemopoietic stem cells”, and of the Gene Therapy Trial for Chronic Granulomatous Disease. Prof. Hoelzer was Vice President of the European Society for Clinical Investigation, President of the South-German Hemoblastis Group, Vice President of the European School of Hematology and Cofounder and President of the European Hematology Association. He received numerous awards and is honorary member of the Hematological Societies of Austria, Hungary and Germany.

Professor Dietger Niederwieser, MD, Leipzig, Germany
Dietger Niederwieser is Professor of Medicine and the Head of the Department of Hematology, Oncology and Hemostasis at University Hospital Leipzig, Germany. Professor Niederwieser obtained his doctorate of medicine at the University of Innsbruck, Austria in 1977, where he continued to dedicate much of career. He became the Head of the Bone Marrow Transplantation Unit and Clinical Immunobiology at the University of Innsbruck in 1989 and Associate Professor of Medicine in 1994, before moving to the University Hospital Leipzig in 1998, where he became the Chairman of the Department. Professor Niederwieser has authored over 300 publications in peer-review journals and has held a number of society memberships, including Board Member of the Austrian Society of Hematology and Oncology (1991) and Member of the European Haematology Association (1993). Professor Niederwieser was the Secretary of the Chronic Leukemia Working Party of the European Bone Marrow Transplantation Group (EBMT) between 1991 and 2000 and the Chairman of the Chronic Leukemia Working Party between 2000 and 2006. He was appointed as President of the EBMT in 2006 and President of the WBMT (Worldwide network for Blood and Marrow Transplantation) in 2010. He is a member of the Committee of Advanced Therapy of the EMA and received the degree of Dr. h. c. from the University of Thessaloniki.

Professor Gert Ossenkoppele, MD, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Professor Gert Ossenkoppele is Professor of Hematology at the VU University Medical Center in Amsterdam. He obtained his doctorate of medicine at that same University in 1977. The title of his PhD thesis (1990) was : ”Differentiation induction in AML”. Gert Ossenkoppele has authored over 260 publications in peer-reviewed journals. His research interests include the biology, immunotherapy and minimal residual disease (MRD) detection using flow cytometry to direct treatment approach of myeloid malignancies (AML, CML and MDS). He is a board member of the Dutch Society of Hematology. He is chief editor of the Dutch Journal of Hematology. He chairs the AML working party of HOVON (Dutch-Belgian Hematology Trial Group) and is a lead participant of the AML Workpackage of the European LeukemiaNet.

Dr. Susanne Saußele, MD, Mannheim, Germany
Dr. Susanne Saußele is Scientific Network Manager of the European LeukemiaNet Network of Excellence within the 6th framework of the European Commission since 2006. She is also active as Chief Executive of the German Competence Net “Acute and chronic leukemias”, and is CEO of the German Foundation “Stiftung Leukämie”. Since 2007, she has been Group Leader of the Study centre of the German CML Study Group at the III. Medizinische Klinik Mannheim, University of Heidelberg and Sub-project Leader for the “Spread of Excellence” group of the “EUTOS for CML” cooperation.

Professor Bengt Simonsson, MD, Uppsala, Sweden
Professor Bengt Simonsson is Professor of Hematology at the University of Uppsala in Sweden. He has been interested in the optimisation of CML treatment for more than 25 years and has been the principal investigator in several academic clinical trials. In 1984 he founded the Swedish CML Study Group and in 2004 the Nordic CML Study Group. Professor Simonsson is Chairman of the Nordic CML Study Group and of the Work Package 4 (CML) of the European LeukemiaNet (ELN). The ELN strengthens and develops scientific and technological excellence in the research and therapy of leukaemia in Europe.
Professor Simonsson was Head of the Department of Hematolgy in Uppsala between 1990 and 2004. He has been Chairman of the Swedish Society of Hematology (1992–1996), the Nordic Society of Hematology (1993–94) and the Uppsala University Ethics Committee (2001–2004). He has been a leader and teacher at several postgraduate and research courses in hematology.

Professor Theo de Witte, MD, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
Professor Theo de Witte is Professor in Haematology at the Radboud University Nijmegen from October 1990. He has been head of the department of Haematology, Radboud University Nijmegen Medical Centre from July 1990 till August 2009. T. de Witte has been active within several national and international scientific boards: chairman of the board of the Leukaemia Group of the EORTC (2000-2003, and 2006-2009), treasurer and member board European Group for Blood and Marrow Transplantation (1996-2002), President of Dutch Society for Haematology (1994-2000), chairman of the board of EuroCord Netherlands (2003-), chairman of the board of the Stem Cell Donor Bank Nijmegen (2003-), chairman of the EBMT Chronic Leukemia Working Party (2006-) and member of the board of the EBMT (2006-).
His main scientific interests are the biology and treatment of myelodysplastic syndromes/acute myeloid leukemia and cellular immunotherapy of hematological malignancies.