Emerging Leaders in Bone Marrow Transplantation
This Emerging Leaders collection welcomes and recognizes new talent in the hematology field. The collection acknowledges groundbreaking researchers, clinicians, and educators who are still in the early stages of their scientific careers, serving as a platform to showcase their work.
Carmelo Gurnari. After graduating from Pavia medical school (2015) with a thesis in Pediatric Hematology/Oncology, Dr. Gurnari completed his training in Hematology at the University of Rome, Tor Vergata and then decided to continue his education with a Ph.D program in “Immunology, Molecular Medicine and Applied Biotechnology”. Simultaneously, Dr. Gurnari has been working since 2019 at the Department of Translational Hematology and Oncology Research of Cleveland Clinic (USA) focusing on the genomics of bone marrow failure disorders and myeloid neoplasia. His clinical and translational research expertise encompasses myeloid malignancies with a special focus on germline predisposition and MDS. Dr. Gurnari is a member of the EHA, ASH, and of the EBMT, for which he serves as vice-chair of the CMWP MDS subcommittee. In these years, Dr. Gurnari has been awarded several international prizes such as the Tito Bastianello Young Investigator Award in MDS research and the ASH-IPIG Award for PNH research.
Nawid Albinger graduated in 2019 with a degree in Biochemistry from the University of Heidelberg. During his time there, he undertook research internships at different institutions including the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ) and Bayer Pharmaceuticals in Berlin. In this context he was introduced to the field of immunooncology, as he engaged in work on a novel immune checkpoint inhibitor designed to treat solid tumors. Subsequently, he started his Ph.D. project in the research unit of Dr. Evelyn Ullrich on Experimental Immunology and Cell Therapy at the Pediatrics Department of the University Hospital Frankfurt where he focused his work on the development of chimeric antigen receptor (CAR)-modified natural killer cell therapies for the treatment of acute myeloid leukemia.
Akshay Sharma, MBBS, MSc, is a pediatric hematologist, oncologist and transplant physician at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis, TN. His postdoctoral work focused on understanding the genetic regulation of fetal hemoglobin and as a physician-scientist he continues to advance that work in the form of novel gene therapy clinical trials for patients with sickle cell disease. He leads several clinical studies of genetically modified autologous and allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplant for nonmalignant hematological disorders. In addition, he is the co-chair of the CIBMTR Pediatric Cancer Working Committee and has led several projects assessing impact of factors affecting health outcomes after HSCT for various blood disorders, especially in children. The goal of his clinical research is to advance cellular therapeutics for children with hematological disorders. He is passionate about improving access to these novel therapies in an equitable and patient-centered manner.
Lars Klingen Gjærde is a medical doctor and a hematology/BMT trainee at the Department of Hematology at Rigshospitalet, Copenhagen University Hospital in Copenhagen, Denmark. He is the co-vice chair of the EBMT Trainee Committee and is active in the EBMT Transplant Complications Working Party. His research focuses on biomarkers and risk factors of acute GvHD and outcomes of allogeneic transplantation for acute leukemia. He received his PhD from the University of Copenhagen in 2022.
Pere Barba is the Clinical lead of Advanced Therapies in the Hematology Department at the Vall Hebron University Hospital. He serves as Associate Professor at the Autonomous University of Barcelona and Vic-UCC University. He achieved his medical degree and did his Fellowship in Hematology at Hospital Sant Pau in Barcelona. He completed his training at Hôpital Saint Louis in Paris, France, and served as Visiting Investigator at the Bone Marrow Transplantation Service at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York. He obtained his clinical Ph.D. in 2014 from the Autonomous University of Barcelona. Dr Barba is the President Elect of the Spanish CAR T-cell working party of the GETH Group and an active member of scientific societies including the European Society for Blood and Marrow Transplantation and the American Society of Hematology. He participates in several Joint Accreditation Committee ISCT-Europe (JACIE) initiatives regarding immune effector cells. Dr. Barba has focused his main interests on CAR-T cells, immunotherapy, ALL, allogeneic cells, and transplantation, publishing more than 100 articles in peer-reviewed journals and book chapters on these areas. He is a member of the Spanish acute lymphoblastic leukaemia Group (PETHEMA) and the ALL-Working Party of the EBMT, also participating in several initiatives of the Joint Accreditation Committee ISCT-Europe.
Ricardo D. Parrondo, MD., completed his fellowship in hematology-oncology at Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, Florida in 2021 and has been on staff since 2021 as an Assistant Professor of Medicine in the Division of Hematology-Oncology and Blood and Marrow Transplantation Program within the Mayo Clinic Comprehensive Cancer Center in Jacksonville, Florida. Dr. Parrondo specializes in plasma cell dyscrasias and chronic lymphocytic leukemia and performs autologous transplant and CAR-T cell therapies for patients with plasma cell dyscrasias. Dr. Parrondo has a clinical and research interest in developing early and latephase clinical trials for patients with plasma cell dyscrasias and chronic lymphocytic leukemia as well as combining novel, cellular immunotherapies with standard of care agents for patients with relapsed/refractory hematologic malignancies.
