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Julie Stevens
We are pleased to announce that Dr Simona Valletta (Nerlov group) and Dr Sarah Gooding (Vyas group) at the MRC Molecular Haematology Unit has been selected by the American Society of Hematology (ASH) and the European Hematology Association (EHA) to participate as one of 20 early-career translational researchers in the joint 2020 Translational Research Training in Hematology (TRTH) program.
TRTH is a rigorous year-long training and mentoring experience that helps talented junior scientists build successful careers in translational hematology research. Under the guidance of international leaders, participants work to improve their research project in every sense, including design, adequate statistics, and how to get your work funded. TRTH aims to include participants at a specific stage in career development, namely being a trainee or junior faculty and hold an MD and/or PhD or biomedical PhD or pharmacy PharmD degree (or equivalents).
The TRTH year begins with a week-long Spring Course, designed to give participants a more profound understanding of translational research methodology and career development. Held in France, March 20-27, 2020, the Spring Course includes didactic and interactive sessions and one-on-one faculty mentoring that focuses on refining participants’ research proposals. TRTH participants will convene again at the 25th Congress of EHA in Frankfurt in June, where they will attend small group mentoring sessions. Finally, at the conclusion of the program, participants will present the status of their projects at the 2020 ASH Annual Meeting, December 5-8, in San Diego.
Simona was recently awarded an Intermediate Research Fellowship from the Kay Kendall Leukaemia Fund to study the effects of the ageing bone marrow microevironment in the prognosis of acute myeloid leukaemia (AML). Sarah is an Oxford-Celgene Translational Research Fellow using whole genome sequencing and single cell technologies to understand response and relapse to treatment in myeloma patients.
“This joint program gives scientists from all over the world with an interest in translational research the opportunity to become leaders in the field with the help of mentors,” said 2020 ASH President Stephanie Lee, MD, MPH, of Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center. “These talented junior researchers are rising stars in hematology.”
Co-founder of TRTH and EHA President John Gribben, MD, DSc, FRCP, FRCPath, FMedSci, says “We continue the long-term tradition of EHA mentorship for translational scientists and haematologists. With the help of outstanding faculty members from EHA and ASH we look to ensure that these young stars of the future fulfil their full potential.”