APHCON Executive Committee

APHCON President: Surapol Issaragrisil, MD

SURAPOL ISSARAGRISIL, MD, FRCP, FACP, FRCPA, FRCPath

Professor of Medicine, Division of Hematology, Department of Medicine, Faculty of Medicine Siriraj Hospital, Mahidol University, Bangkok, Thailand
Director, Chulabhorn Bone Marrow Transplant Center
Director, Siriraj Center of Excellence for Stem Cell Research
Fellow of Royal Institute (Thailand), Academy of Science
President of the Thai Society for Stem Cell Research

Leadership: Dr Issaragrisil is internationally known to champion the position of young and upcoming fellows and faculty. He is also responsible for launching on mobile platform for collaborative research. His efforts have translated into 4 peer-reviewed publications of APHCON platform

APHCON Commitment: To organize and improve the publication record for APHCON members and initiate joint clinical trials.

Chair APHCON Foundation: Morton Coleman, MD

Clinical Professor of Medicine at Weill Medical College of Cornell University, NEW YORK

Dr. Morton Coleman, MD has been the Clinical Professor of Medicine at the Weill Medical College of Cornell University since 1986. Dr. Coleman has been the Director of the Center for Lymphoma and Myeloma in the Division of Hematology-Oncology since 1997, at New York Presbyterian Hospital, Cornell Medical Center. Dr. Coleman has been a Director of Immunomedics Inc. since 2000. He serves as a Member of Advisory Board of Universal EMR Solutions LLC (formerly, BML MedRecords Alert LLC). Dr. Coleman is the Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Fund for Blood and Cancer Research, a member of the Clinical Practice Committee of the American Society of Clinical Oncology, Associate Editor of Cancer Investigation, past President of the New York Cancer Society, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Affiliated Physicians Network, Inc., Chairman of the Medical Advisory Board and on the Board of Directors of The Cure for Lymphoma Foundation, and a member of the Lymphoma Core Committee of Cancer and Leukemia Group B, among other distinguished appointments.

APHCON Executive Director: Xiao Jun Huang, MD PhD

Dr Huang is Professor of Medicine and Hematology; Chairman, Peking University Institute of Hematology.
Director and Chief Physician, Department of Hematology, Peking University People's Hospital. Beijing, China

Dr Huang was the first president of APHCON and is also holds several prestigious offices:
President , Chinese Society of Hematology,CMA
Chairman, Chinese Association of Hematologists,CMDA
Chairman, Chinese Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation Association, CMA
Vice Chairman, Chinese Pathophysiological Association of Experimental Hematology
Member，National Natural Science Foundation of China, the Expert Evaluation Team of the Ministry of Medicine and Science.
Director, Chinese Medical Association Beijing Hematology Branch

Leadership: As the Head of the Association of Chinese Hematologists, 5 years ago Dr Huang established a platform of education for professional standardization to junior hematologists in Mainland China. It consists of series of conference that covers around 20 cities each year in China.

APHCON Commitment: To unite the practicing hematologists of participating nations and provide educational opportunities to the younger generation.

Chair APHCON Scientific Program: Robert Orlowski, MD, PhD

Professor, Department Of Myeloma/ Lymphoma, At The University Of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center

Robert Z. Orlowski, MD, PhD, is Director of Myeloma, and Professor of Medicine in the Departments of Lymphoma/Myeloma and Experimental Therapeutics, Division of Cancer Medicine, at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Texas. He is board-certified in internal medicine and medical oncology. Dr. Orlowski earned his doctoral degree in molecular biophysics and biochemistry from Yale University and his medical degree from the Yale University School of Medicine. He completed his internship and residency in Internal Medicine at Barnes Hospital at the Washington University in St. Louis School of Medicine. Dr. Orlowski has published numerous book chapters, articles, and abstracts on cancer therapy, with a focus on the molecular pathogenesis of oncologic disease processes and the mechanisms of action of chemotherapeutics. His clinical research efforts focus on the translation of promising laboratory based findings into novel clinical trials for patients with hematologic malignancies. He has published in, and is a reviewer for, several journals, including Blood, Cancer Research, Journal of Clinical Oncology, and the New England Journal of Medicine. He has received several awards, including The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society Scholar in Clinical Research and the Jefferson-Pilot Fellowship in Academic Medicine.

APHCON Commitment: To help in the development of the consortium and support educational endeavors

Chair APHCON Awards and Scientific Publications Commitee: Kaiyan Liu, MD, PhD

Deputy Chairman, Professor, Peking University Institute of Hematology

Dr. Kaiyan Liu, MD, PhD, is mainly engaged in the work of clinical and experimental study on blood diseases. He has rich clinical experience in hematopoietic stem cell transplantation techniques and various diagnostic comorbidity, acute leukemia, lymphoma, multiple myeloma treatment. He also specializes in blood transfusion. Dr. Liu serves as the President of Chinese Association of Hematologists, Chinese Medical Doctor Association, General Secretary of Chinese Society of Hematology, Chinese Medical Association, Chairman of Hematopoietic stem cell transplantation group, CSH-CMA and deputy chairman of the Blood Standard Committee, National Health Standard Committee. Dr Liu is also deputy director, department of Hematology, Peking University People’s Hospital; Deputy Director, Department of Clinical Trial, Peking University People’s Hospital ; Director, Beijing Cord Blood Bank.

APHCON Committment: Lead the selection process for APHCON best abstracts and posters for the bi-annual meetings. Also lead the initiative for collaborative scientific publications

Chair APHCON CTN: David Ritchie, MD, PhD

Dr Ritchie is Professor of Medicine; Head of Bone Marrow Transplant Service
Dept of Clinical Haematology, Royal Melbourne Hospital, Melbourne, Australia.

Dr Ritchie is President of the Hematology Society of Australia and NewZealand and has served as the Chair, BMT group for Australasian Leukaemia and Lymphoma Group (ALLG). Dr Ritchie has trained fellows in allogeneic and autologous stem cell transplant as well as in translational research.

APHCON Commitment: Developing the clinical trial network program with the vision of increasing participation of the APHCON member institutions. Help in developing investigator initiated studies and implementation of industry sponsored trials.

Chair APHCON Scientific Committee: Borje Andersson, MD, PhD

Professor OF MEDICINE AND PHARMACOLOGY At The University Of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center

Dr. Borje Andersson, MD, PhD focuses his clinical research on research interest on 1) development of less toxic and more efficacious pre-transplant conditioning therapy, and 2) improving our understanding of leukemic cell resistance to bi-functional DNA-alkylating agents. In reference to the first issue his group developed IV Busulfan, the first cytotoxic agent formulation ever to be approved by the FDA for use in pre-transplant conditioning therapy. Further, his combination of once daily IV Busulfan and Fludarabine has rapidly become a new national standard for pre-transplant treatment for allogeneic stem cell transplantation for patients with myeloid malignancies. His group is now evaluating the systematic use of pharmacokinetically (PK)-guided busulfan delivery to further optimize systemic drug exposure to further improve the treatment. He has identified a series of gene messages that are of importance for alkylating agent action, or lack thereof, in leukemic cells.

APHCON Committment: Developing the coordination with the APHCON mentors and the clinical scholars. Oversee completion of the scholar rotation in the United States.

Chair APHCON Youth Congress: Raymond Wong, MD

Dr. Wong received his medical degree from the Chinese University of Hong Kong and received his training in Haematology, Internal Medicine as well as Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics at the Prince of Wales Hospital, Hong Kong. He also obtained his Doctor of Medicine from the Chinese University of Hong Kong. He joined the Prince of Wales Hospital Poison Treatment Centre since its establishment in 2005 which is a tertiary referral centre for the management of patients with poisoning. Dr. Wong has published over 70 articles in peer-reviewed journals including Blood, Circulation, JAMA and the New England Journal of Medicine in various areas of haematology and therapeutics.

APHCON Committment: Lead the selection process for APHCON clinical scholar and help in the matching with the appropriate APHCON mentor. Completion report of the scholar rotation and chair the preceptor program at the annual meeting.

Chair APHCON Education Access Program: James CS Chim, MD, PhD

Dr James CS Chim is Professor of Medicine; Queen Mary Hospital, University of Hong Kong.

Dr Chim is the Founding Chairman of The Hong Kong Society of Myeloma.
Dr Chim is a pioneer in the field of multiple myeloma and is a world thought leader. He has played pivotal role in the development of many young successful scientists in his laboratory as well as successful clinical faculty.

APHCON Committment: Developing the education access program with the vision of young fellows and practicing physicians oriented educational programs. Lead the scientific curriculum of teh educational meetings and conferences.

Chair APHCON Biostatistics: Piyanuch Kongtim, MD

Dr Kingtim is Assistant Professor of Medicine at Thammasat University, Bangkok. After completing her special training in stem cell transplantation and cellular therapy at MD Anderson Cancer Center, Dr Kongtim now leads the dept of bone marrow transplantation at Thammasat University.

APHCON Commitment: Developing the statistical overview and study design for clinical trials and retrospective chart studies.

APHCON Secretariat: Simrit Parmar, MD

Dr Simrit Parmar is Assistant Professor of Medicine, University of Texas, MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas, USA

Dr Parmar works with the cord blood derived regulatory T cells in laboratory and the clinical Amyloidosis program at MD Anderson Cancer Center. She has been pivotal in the initiation and development of the educational endeavor in the APAC region. She has served as a preceptor to several visiting fellows and trainees.

APHCON Committment: Develop collaborations between APHCON member institutes and offices