Over the past few years, ASH has become increasingly interested and involved in hematologic issues of the elderly. In 2004, ASH and the National Institute on Aging brought together a panel of experts to discuss the next steps that must be pursued in order to understand the causes of anemia, impaired biology, clinical impact, and management of anemia in the elderly. The panel consisted of about ten hematology experts in red cell disorders and equal numbers of geriatricians. As a member of the panel, I was impressed by how much information these two groups had to share. Further, by meeting together, we were able to identify key target areas for needed future exploration. The number of elderly Americans with anemia - currently estimated in the millions - continues to escalate as the population ages, making this issue a significant public health problem.
As a follow up to this meeting, ASH's Committee on Practice held the Anemia in the Elderly: A Public Health Crisis in Hematology? special symposium at the 2005 ASH Annual Meeting in Atlanta. The Association of Specialty Professors (ASP) provided grant support for this symposium in partnership with the John A. Hartford Foundation and the Merck Institute of Aging & Health. The interest of hematologists in this issue was evidenced by the overflow attendance at the session. The symposium reviewed the key biologic problems related to anemia in the elderly, discussed the serious clinical impact of even "trivial" levels of anemia in these aged patients, shared recommendations for a clinical work-up of such patients, and discussed the role of the individual hematologist and ASH in addressing this public health problem.
As a next step in bringing awareness to these issues, and in expanding the number of appropriately trained experts, ASH is proud to announce the new ASP-ASH Geriatric Hematology Research Award, in partnership with ASP. The purpose of this award is to provide support for junior faculty who have recently completed training in hematology and who are interested in embarking on academic careers in research of the elderly. The potential scope is enormous, and, in addition to problems of anemia in the aged, there are issues of thrombosis/hemostasis in the aged, and appropriate chemotherapy for hematologic malignancies in the elderly.
This award will be based within the current ASH Scholar Award program. The required letter of intent deadline is May 3, 2006. Those interested in competing for this special award must identify themselves in their letter of intent as a candidate. The full application deadline is August 31, 2006.
Applicants for the ASP-ASH Geriatric Hematology Research Award will be reviewed in the same pool as the other ASH Scholar Award applications. If an application is within the fundable range at the end of the review and the application is designated as a candidate for the ASP-ASH award, it will be funded as such - with half the funds being provided by ASH and the other half being provided by ASP.
For complete instructions on how to apply for this award, visit the ASH Web site. Contact Elisa Shea, ASH Awards Manager, at eshea@hematology.org with questions about this new award opportunity.
ASH hopes that by partnering with ASP in this initiative we will more easily identify, train, and support a new generation of hematologists prepared to meet the complex needs of the nation's aging population.
