HEMATOLOGY

Zhijian “James” Chen, PhD, has proudly been recognized by the Foundation for the National Institutes of Health for his breakthrough discovery of the enzyme cyclic GMP-AMP synthase and its corresponding pathway. He will receive the 2018 Lurie Prize in Biomedical Sciences during the FNIH Award Ceremony to be held on May 16 in Washington, DC.

Treating Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia in Elderly Patients

The National Cancer Institute-designated UC Davis Comprehensive Cancer Center has chosen Primo Nery Lara, Jr., MD, to serve as director. His position will include leading a team of over 300 scientists in their annual research, with an estimated annual research funding of $90 million. The clinical enterprise also serves over 10,000 regional patients annually.

Based on data from the ongoing phase III ADMIRAL study, Astellas Pharma, the manufacturer of&nbsp;gilteritinib, has announced the submission of a new drug application to the FDA seeking approval for the FLT3 inhibitor as a treatment for adult patients with <em>FLT3</em> mutation&ndash;positive relapsed or refractory acute myeloid leukemia.

Two poster presentations at the 2018 BMT Tandem Meetings of the Center for International Blood &amp; Marrow Transplant Research and the American Society for Blood and Marrow Transplantation, provided a compelling&nbsp;extension of the recent phase III clinical trial that demonstrated the efficacy of prophylactic therapy with letermovir (Prevymis) for the prevention of cytomeg&nbsp;alovirus (CMV) infection in patients receiving allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT).