Last week, the International Myeloma Foundation (IMF) announced that IMF Co-Founder Dr. Brian G.M. Durie will no longer continue his role of Chief Scientific Officer with the organization. Dr. Durie will remain a member of the IMF Board of Directors. With this transition, the IMF looks back as we embark on a new direction.
The IMF is grateful to Dr. Durie for co-founding, developing, and guiding the organization – with multiple myeloma patients, care partners, and their loved ones at the heart of it all. Did you know that you have visited Dr. Durie’s “Week in Review” blog more than 50,000 times in this last calendar year alone?
For this reason, we have compiled the following list:
Dr. Brian G.M. Durie’s Top Ten Performing “Week in Review” Blogs of 2023-2024
- Sugar or Stress: Which Is Worse?
- Whatever Happened to COVID-19?
- 2023 Mid-Year Science Update: Entering a New Era of Myeloma Care
- A Deeper Understanding of ‘Cure’ in Multiple Myeloma
- Toxic Exposures Unleashed
- A Historic Turning Point: ODAC Unanimously Votes in Favor of MRD Testing as an Early Endpoint in Myeloma Clinical Trials to Support Accelerated Approvals of New Treatments
- After ODAC Review: FDA Approves Abecma and Carvykti in Earlier Lines of Therapy for Relapsed or Refractory Myeloma Patients
- Preparing for and Looking Forward to 2024
- AI 2024: Is a New Wave of Technology Coming?
- Can Positive Thoughts Prevent Cancer Growth?
As you can see from the above list, Dr. Durie’s voice and passion for all the IMF stands for, will be missed. We, at the IMF, know how important it is for our myeloma community to hear from thought leaders in the field. That’s why the “Week in Review” blog on our website will continue with its forward-looking outlook in mind.
The IMF collaborates with patients, renowned researchers, industry partners, and other organizations in the global fight against the second most common blood cancer in the world. We have established a new Scientific Advisory Board. This esteemed group of global myeloma experts (led by IMF Chairperson of the Board Dr. S. Vincent Rajkumar) will guide and prioritize IMF research initiatives and identify areas for investment and expansion.
You can learn about the members of this newly established IMF Scientific Advisory Board in this article.
Several of the members of this IMF Scientific Advisory Board will pen the upcoming “Week in Review” blogs. To kick us off in the coming weeks, we look forward to hearing from IMF Chairperson of the Board S. Vincent Rajkumar, MD; and IMF Chief Medical Officer Joseph Mikhael, MD, M.Ed., FRCPC, FACP.
About Dr. S. Vincent Rajkumar
Dr. Rajkumar is a Professor of Medicine at the Mayo Clinic; a Member of the National Cancer Institute Myeloma Steering Committee; Chair of the Myeloma Committee, ECOG-ACRIN Cancer Research Group; Editor-in-Chief of Blood Cancer Journal; and Associate Editor of Leukemia, and the European Journal of Haematology. Dr. Rajkumar also served as principal investigator of several clinical trials for the treatment of myeloma, including pivotal trials that led to the regulatory approval of thalidomide for the treatment of the disease in the U.S. He has published more than 480 peer-reviewed papers primarily in the field of multiple myeloma and related plasma cell disorders.
Among Dr. Rajkumar’s accolades include the Jan Waldenstrom Lifetime Achievement Award (2021), the Mayo Clinic Distinguished Investigator Award (2018); and the Robert A. Kyle Lifetime Achievement Award (2016).
About Dr. Joseph Mikhael
Dr. Mikhael is a Professor in the Applied Cancer Research and Drug Discovery Division at the Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen), an affiliate of the City of Hope Cancer Center. He is also the Chief Medical Officer of the International Myeloma Foundation (IMF).
Dr. Mikhael is a consultant hematologist and Director of Myeloma Research at the HonorHealth Research Institute where he conducts phase 1 clinical trials. He just completed a term as Councilor on the American Society of Hematology Executive. He also recently led the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) guidelines for multiple myeloma.
Dr. Mikhael was recently a hematologist at Mayo Clinic Arizona where he served as a Professor at the Mayo College of Medicine, Associate Dean of Graduate Medical Education, and Deputy Director - Education of the Mayo Clinic Cancer Center. He has been recognized with many education awards, including being in the Mayo Clinic Resident and Fellow Association Hall of Fame as Educator of the Year. He was also recently named in the Top 100 Doctors in the United States.
Dr. Mikhael did his initial medical school training in Ottawa, Canada, followed by his Hematology Residency at Princess Margaret Hospital in Toronto. He then did a Multiple Myeloma Fellowship there along with a master's degree in education from the University of Toronto. He was on staff at PMH until being recruited to Mayo Clinic in 2008.
He specializes clinically in plasma cell disorders, namely multiple myeloma, amyloidosis, and Waldenström's macroglobulinemia. Dr. Mikhael is currently the principal investigator of many clinical trials, primarily in multiple myeloma. His other clinical research interests also include pharmaco-economics, communication skills, and media relations. He has published more than 150 peer-reviewed articles in these fields. He lectures internationally regularly. He is an active member of the IMF’s International Myeloma Working Group and serves on the editorial board of the Journal of Clinical Oncology.
Dr. Mikhael is leading the IMF’s M-Power Project, which seeks to improve the care delivered to African Americans with myeloma – a disease with double the incidence in African Americans than white people. Dr. Mikhael also spends about twenty percent of his time in the developing world, seeking ways to enhance access to myeloma therapies in underprivileged countries.
What to Expect from the IMF’s “Week in Review” Blog in the Months to Come
To carry on the spirit of Dr. Durie’s commentary, our upcoming bloggers will tackle the most pressing myeloma research issues including
- immunotherapies for you
- learning about clinical trials
- achieving health equity in cancer care
- understanding how federal cancer legislation impacts you
as well as topics that have caught your attention in past, including:
- the best diet for living with cancer
- hobbies for myeloma patients
- traveling while living with myeloma
- staying active despite your illness
- the environment and cancer
- how to engage with your healthcare team
As Dr. Durie’s blog is coming to close, we turn the page to the perspectives of key opinion leaders in the field of myeloma who will lead us into the future.
We are so excited to take you on this journey with us—a journey that will help the IMF realize our vision: A world where every myeloma patient can live life to the fullest, unburdened by the disease.
