iCMLf: The first 6 months

The International Chronic Myeloid Leukemia Foundation (iCMLf) is now 6 months old and it has certainly been a productive 6 months. The aim of the iCMLf is to address the challenges faced by the international CML community, be they patients, carers, clinicians, nurses or scientists. This will be through specific programs, unrestricted grants, clinical trials, education and influence. In this capacity the Foundation was proud to launch the first Emerging Regions Support and Partnership (ERSAP) project, the ERSAP Preceptorship Program, a unique opportunity for clinicians from developing countries to undertake an intensive educational program to develop and expand their CML management skills. 28 candidates from developing countries are now enrolled and ready to begin this program.

Jeff Lipton, PhD MD FRCPC

Jeff Lipton is Professor of Medicine at the University of Toronto and Staff Physician on the Leukemia and Allogeneic Blood and Marrow Transplant Services at the Princess Margaret Hospital. He received and honors BSc in Biochemistry at the University of Calgary and went on to a PhD in Biochemistry at the University of Western Ontario. An MRC post-doctoral fellowship at the Weizmann Institute in Israel with Leo Sachs led to his developing interests in leukemia. After a short time as a junior staff at the University of Connecticut, he had a mid-life crisis and went back to Calgary to go to medical school, followed by a residency in Internal Medicine. He then completed sub-specialty training in Medical Oncology at the University of Toronto and stayed on at the PMH as a staff physician. His clinical practice is in chronic leukemias and bone marrow failure syndromes as well as allogeneic stem cell transplant. Research interests in particular are in CML and its therapy, outcomes and supportive care in BMT, and in the therapy of bone marrow failure syndromes. Jeff serves on the Unrelated Donor Transplant Advisory Board of OneMatch, Past President of the Canadian Bone Marrow Transplant Group (CBMTG), was an advisor to the Center for Research on Bone Marrow Transplantation (CIBMTR), has served on the Clinical Trials Group of the CBMTG, was Director of the Allogeneic Stem Cell Transplant Program at PMH, is Head of the CML Study Group at PMH and is on several international advisory boards relating to the therapy of CML including the International CML Foundations and the ELN and Canadian CML Guidelines Committee. He has authored or co-authored more than 250 peer reviewed papers and 350 abstracts.

Chronic Myeloid Leukemia: Reversing the Chronic Phase

john_goldman Despite considerable scepticism about any possible clinical value of tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) in the early 1990s, imatinib at an oral dose of 400mg daily has now become standard initial treatment for all CML patients who present in Chronic Phase (CP). After 8 years follow up, the estimated survival for patients treated with imatinib is 85%, which is substantially better than patients treated with interferon alone or interferon plus cytarabine. The adverse effects of imatinib are definitely manageable in most instances.

Nick Cross, MA PhD FRCPath

Nick Cross MA PhD FRCPath studies at the University of Cambridge, initially reading Natural
Sciences and subsequently undertaking a PhD in the Department of Genetics. He started his postdoctoral career at the Hammersmith Hospital, London in 1987, where he developed an interest in chronic myeloid leukaemia under the mentorship of Prof John Goldman. In 2001 he relocated to Salisbury to take up Directorship of the Wessex Regional Genetics Laboratory and Chair of Human Genetics at the University of Southampton. His research, which has resulted in more than 290 peer reviewed publications, focuses on the molecular pathogenesis of myeloid malignancies as well as the development, validation and standardisation of genetic tests.

Emerging Regions Support and Partnership (ERSAP) Preceptorship Program started

nicola_evans Launched in December 2009 the Emerging Regions Support and Partnership (ERSAP) Preceptorship Program is a unique opportunity for clinicians from developing countries who treat Chronic Myeloid Leukemia (CML) to undertake an intensive educational program to develop and expand their CML management skills. Hematologists from Argentina, India and Madagascar now undertake the first preceptorships supported by the iCMLf.

Charles A. Schiffer, MD, is Professor of Medicine and Oncology at Wayne State University School of Medicine and the Karmanos Cancer Institute in Detroit, Michigan. He is the director of the Leukemia/Lymphoma Multidisciplinary Program.

Dr. Schiffer earned his BA cum laude at Brandeis University and his M.D. at New York University School of Medicine. He completed his internship, residency, and chief residency in Internal Medicine at Bellevue Hospital under the auspices of New York University School of Medicine and had subsequent training and positions at the Baltimore Cancer Research Institute, National Cancer Institute and the University of Maryland School of Medicine, where he served as Chief of the Division of Hematology. He has also served as Chief of the Division of Hematology/Oncology and Director of Clinical Research at the Karmanos Cancer Institute.

Dr. Schiffer has authored and co-authored more than 300 articles and 80 book chapters on topics concerning the treatment of leukemia in adults, platelet transfusion, and granulocyte transfusion therapy, among others. He has served on the Editorial Boards for Blood, the Journal of Clinical Oncology, International Journal of Hematology, Transfusion Medicine Reviews and Transfusion, and reviews articles for multiple journals. Committee memberships have included Chairman of the Leukemia Committee of the Cancer and Leukemia Group B, Chairman of the Food and Drug Administration Oncologic Drug Advisory Committee, and grant reviews for the NCI and Leukemia/Lymphoma Society of America. Dr. Schiffer has been named among American Health Magazine’s and Castle Connelly’s “Best Doctors in America,” “Best Cancer Specialists in the US.” In 2006, he received the Dr. John J. Kenney Award from the Leukemia/Lymphoma Society of America and the Celgene Award for Career Achievement in Hematology. He has received multiple teaching awards from Wayne State University and was recently inducted into the Academy of Scholars, the highest recognition accorded to academic faculty at the University.

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Registered Address: International CML Foundation - 20 Eversley Road - Bexhill-On-Sea, East Sussex, TN40 1HE - UK