David Sallman, MD, currently at the H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center & Research Institute and the University of South Florida, has clinical interests in MDS, AML, and myeloproliferative neoplasms. His research interests focus on the development of novel targeted therapeutic strategies for patients with MDS and AML. Specifically, he studies the genetic drivers of myeloid diseases to improve prognostication for patients and to allow for more personalized treatment. He has published significantly on this topic, including recently in leading journals such as Leukemia, Blood, and Journal of Clinical Oncology and these works are the foundation of clinical trials/translational studies designed to improve the QOL and survival of patients with MDS and AML. He is the PI for multiple ongoing studies focused on higher-risk MDS; has authored or coauthored numerous articles, books, book chapters, and abstracts; and serves as reviewer for multiple journals.

Valeria Santini is Associate Professor of Hematology at the University of Florence, Italy. She runs the MDS Unit- Hematology- Department of Experimental and Clinical Medicine- AOU Careggi, University of Florence. Her interests are focused on clinical and translational research in MDS and elderly AML. Professor Santini is President of the Scientific Committee of Fondazione Italiana per lo studio delle sindromi mielodisplastiche (FISiM) and Italian Network of MDS Registries. She belongs to ASH, EHA SOHO and MDS Foundation. She is also an author of more than 200 peer-reviewed papers published in international journals, she has been member of the Editorial board of Blood journal, and documented reviewer for high impact factor scientific journals. She has been an invited speaker at numerous international meetings including the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO 2007: educational session on MDS), American Society of Hematology (ASH 2012, ASH 2016: educational sessions on MDS), European Haematology Association (EHA 2016, EHA 2020, EHA 2022: Educational sessions on MDS) and national haematology societies of several countries

Mikkael Sekeres is Professor of Medicine with Tenure and Chief of the Division of Hematology at the Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of Miami Miller School of Medicine. He earned a medical degree and a master’s degree in clinical epidemiology from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. Mikkael completed his postgraduate training at Harvard University, finishing an internal medicine residency at Massachusetts General Hospital and a fellowship in hematology-oncology at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston. He is chair of the medical advisory board of the Aplastic Anemia and Myelodysplastic Syndrome (MDS) International Foundation, and formerly chaired the Oncologic Drugs Advisory Committee of the F.D.A. He is also a member of the American Society of Hematology, where he serves on the Executive Committee and chairs the Committee on Communications. His research focuses on patients with MDS and older adults with acute myeloid leukemia.

Dorothée Selimoglu-Buet is an Inserm Researcher in the team “Hematopoietic tissue aging” headed by Françoise Porteu at Gustave Roussy Cancer Campus (GR), France. She obtained her PhD in William Vainchencker lab at GR, then moved to Olivier Delattre lab at Curie Institute, exploring pathogenic insights in acute leukemias. Joining Eric Solary lab in 2012, she moved to chronic myeloid malignancies with a focus on chronic myelomonocytic leukemia (CMML). She identified a characteristic partition of monocyte subsets in the peripheral blood of CMML patients, proposed a new diagnostic tool for CMML by flow cytometry and deciphered underlying epigenetic mechanisms. She explores feed forward loops involving inflammatory cytokines produced by mature cells of the leukemic clone and stem cells, looking for therapeutic approaches that could step down disease progression. She is co-leading a CMML-dedicated group within the Cythem (Cytométrie hématologique francophone) association.

Dr. Akiko Shimamura, MD PhD is Professor of Pediatrics at Harvard Medical School and holds the Samuel E. Lux IV Chair in Hematology/Oncology. She directs the Bone Marrow Failure and MDS Program at the Dana Farber/Boston Children’s Cancer and Blood Disorders Center. Dr. Shimamura’s research focuses on laboratory and clinical studies of bone marrow failure and leukemia predisposition. Her group (shimamuralab.org) has identified new genetic causes of these conditions. Her research team’s studies of Shwachman Diamond Syndrome identified distinct acquired genetic mutation patterns that can either promote evolution to MDS or relieve the underlying germline genetic stressor through somatic reversion. These studies inform surveillance strategies to identify patients at high risk of leukemia which guide interventions to intercept leukemia development. Dr. Shimamura founded and directs the North American Shwachman Diamond Syndrome Registry (sdsregistry.org). She founded with Dr. David Williams the North American Pediatric Aplastic Anemia Consortium (NAPAAC), and she currently leads the NAPAAC Coordinating Center. Dr. Shimamura also oversees the Severe Chronic Neutropenia International Registry (SCNIR) in the United States.

Eric Solary, MD, full-Professor in Hematology at Université Paris-Saclay, is teaching clinical and biological hematology as well as cell biology. His clinical activity is performed in the department of Hematology and his research in INSERM U1287 in Gustave Roussy, Villejuif, France. A Scientific Director of Gustave Roussy Cancer Center from 2011 to 2020, Eric Solary also presides over the Scientific Committee of Foundation ARC and over the Coordination and Support Action 4.UNCAN.eu, a European platform to UNderstand CANcer. His research has been dedicated initially to leukemic cell resistance to cytotoxic drugs, then to cell death mechanisms and the link between cell death and differentiation in the hematopoietic system. In the last 15 years, he focused on monocyte differentiation and the pathogenesis of chronic myeloid malignancies, with a special interest in chronic myelomonocytic leukemia.