Reviewer Recognition

Our reviewers are essential in supporting the publication process of Leukemia. Their knowledge and critical evaluation is key and always appreciated.

To show our thanks, we present here the profiles of those awarded our 'top reviewer' accolade in recent years.

2023

Michael Lauseker - Germany
Michael Lauseker is a statistician working as a senior scientist at the Institute for Medical Information Processing, Biometry, and Epidemiology at the LMU Munich, Germany. His research focus includes statistics in haematology and oncology, with a particular emphasis on CML and myelodysplastic syndromes. He has been publishing on time-to-event methods, especially competing risks and multi-state models.

Florian Perner - Germany
Florian Perner studied Medicine in Magdeburg, Germany where he graduated in 2016 and completed his thesis in the laboratory of Thomas Fischer on cell cycle regulation in FLT3-ITD mutant AML. He then started clinical training in internal medicine, hematology and medical oncology under Andreas Hochhaus at the University Hospital Jena, Germany. Between 2018 and 2022 Dr. Perner worked as a postdoctoral scientist at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Harvard Medical School in the laboratory of Scott Armstrong, establishing response and resistance mechanisms of leukemia cells against inhibitors of the Menin-MLL1 interaction. After returning to Germany, he continued clinical training and started an independent research group at the University Medicine in Greifswald. Since 2024, Dr. Perner leads the Emmy-Noether Research Group “Translational Epigenetics” within the Department for Hematology, Hemostaseology, Oncology and Stem cell transplantation at Hannover Medical School, Germany under the mentorship of Florian Heidel. His research program aims to identify and target selective vulnerabilities of myeloid malignancies on protein complexes that bind and modify chromatin.

Joseph Khoury - USA
Dr. Joseph Khoury is the Stokes-Shackleford Professor and Chair, Department of Pathology and Microbiology, University of Nebraska Medical Center. He is recognized internationally as a leader in the field of hematopathology, in which he combines longstanding expertise in clinical diagnostics, teaching, and translational research. Dr. Khoury has authored over 300 publications, in addition to textbooks and numerous book chapters. He has received multiple awards for teaching, mentorship, research, and clinical achievements. Dr. Khoury is the Chair of the Standing Editorial Board of the WHO Classification of Tumours and has contributed significantly to the 5th edition of the classification of hematolymphoid neoplasms. 

Florian Heidel - Germany
Florian Heidel studied Medicine at the University of Erlangen, Germany where he graduated in 2002, also completing his thesis in the laboratory of Rolf Marschalek on acute leukemias harboring MLL-fusions. He then completed his clinical residency and fellowship in internal medicine and hematology/oncology in Mainz under Christoph Huber until 2008 followed by post-doctoral research (2009-2012) in the laboratory of Scott Armstrong at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute (Harvard University). Following his return, he worked as a Junior Group Leader at Magdeburg University (until 2015), as Professor for stem cell biology at the University of Jena and the Leibniz Institute on Aging (Jena, Germany) (2015-2020). He became appointed Full Professor and Chair of Hematology at Greifswald University in 2020 and is affiliated group leader at the Leibniz Institute on Aging in Jena.
His research interest focuses on identification and functional characterization of signaling molecules involved in progression and maintenance of aging associated myeloid blood cancers.

Mikkael Sekeres - USA
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. Dr Sekeres 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.
Dr Sekeres’ research focuses on patients with MDS and older adults with acute myeloid leukemia, and he has been the national and international primary study investigator on dozens of phase I/II/III trials. He is the author or co-author of over 450 peer-reviewed manuscripts and 650 abstracts. He was the inaugural editor-in-chief of the ASH Clinical News magazine; he is on the editorial board of several journals; has written 100 essays for The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, Huffington Post, Slate, and The Hill, among others; and has authored 8 books, including When Blood Breaks Down: Life Lessons from Leukemia (The MIT Press 2020) and Drugs and the FDA: Safety, Efficacy, and the Public’s Trust (The MIT Press 2022).

2022

Florian Heidel - Germany
Florian Heidel studied Medicine at the University of Erlangen, Germany where he graduated in 2002, also completing his thesis in the laboratory of Rolf Marschalek on acute leukemias harboring MLL-fusions. He then completed his clinical residency and fellowship in internal medicine and hematology/oncology in Mainz under Christoph Huber until 2008 followed by post-doctoral research (2009-2012) in the laboratory of Scott Armstrong at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute (Harvard University). Following his return, he worked as a Junior Group Leader at Magdeburg University (until 2015), as Professor for stem cell biology at the University of Jena and the Leibniz Institute on Aging (Jena, Germany) (2015-2020). He became appointed Full Professor and Chair of Hematology at Greifswald University in 2020 and is affiliated group leader at the Leibniz Institute on Aging in Jena.
His research interest focuses on identification and functional characterization of signaling molecules involved in progression and maintenance of aging associated myeloid blood cancers.

Yang Liang - China
Yang Liang is Head of the Department of Hematologic Oncology of the Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center, Guangzhou, China. Born in Anhui, China in 1974, Yang Liang studied medicine at Tianjin Medical University from 1993 to 1998. He received his Ph.D. training with Prof. Zhu Chen at Shanghai Institute of Hematology, Shanghai Jiao-tong University School of Medicine, and postdoctoral training with Prof. Stephanie Halene at Yale Cancer Center, New Haven, CT, USA. Since 2017 he has worked at Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center and has numerous local medical association appointments. Since 2022 he has served as the regional communications editor (China) for Leukemia. Prof. Liang has broad research interests including disease biology, precision treatment and transplant of haematological malignancies, haematology and critical medicine, haematology and public health. He is author of over 40 peer reviewed papers, including 11 in Leukemia, and a regular speaker at national and international symposia. 

Joseph Khoury - USA
Dr. Joseph Khoury is the Stokes-Shackleford Professor and Chair, Department of Pathology and Microbiology, University of Nebraska Medical Center. He is recognized internationally as a leader in the field of hematopathology, in which he combines longstanding expertise in clinical diagnostics, teaching, and translational research. Dr. Khoury has authored over 300 publications, in addition to textbooks and numerous book chapters. He has received multiple awards for teaching, mentorship, research, and clinical achievements. Dr. Khoury is the Chair of the Standing Editorial Board of the WHO Classification of Tumours and has contributed significantly to the 5th edition of the classification of hematolymphoid neoplasms. 

Klaus Metzeler - Germany
Klaus Metzeler currently is professor of translational hematology and head of the hematological diagnostics laboratory at the University of Leipzig, Germany. His clinical focus is diagnosis and treatment of myeloid malignancies, and his current research interests include translational biomarker studies in myeloid neoplasms, genetics and clinical relevance of clonal hematopoiesis, and quality of life in AML survivors.