The Brian G.M. Durie Outstanding Achievement Award was first presented on June 12, 2018. Named for IMF Chairman Dr. Brian Durie, this award recognizes excellence in multiple myeloma research. Dr. Durie is also the Medical Director for AMyC and Specialist in Multiple Myeloma and Related Disorders for Cedars-Sinai Outpatient Cancer Center in Los Angeles, California. He is Co-Chair of the Myeloma Committee for SWOG.
This Year's Recipient:
Professor of Clinical Medicine
Associate Chief, Adult Hematology, Blood and Marrow Transplantation and Cell Therapy (HBC)
Co-Director Myeloma Program
Clinical Research Director Hematologic Malignancies
UCSF Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center
University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) Medical Center
San Francisco, California
Thomas Martin earned a medical degree at the University of Connecticut School of Medicine in Farmington, Connecticut. He completed internship and residency programs at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center in Torrance, California and a fellowship in hematology/oncology at UCSF Medical Center, where he was promoted to Adjunct Professor of Medicine in the Division of Hematology and Oncology. Dr. Martin later was appointed Assistant Professor of Medicine at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Texas. After several years, he returned as a faculty member at UCSF, where he continues to serve as Professor of Clinical Medicine.
A Diplomate of the American Board of Internal Medicine with subspecialty certification in hematology, Dr. Martin is a member of the American Society for Blood and Marrow Transplantation, the American Society of Clinical Oncology, and the American Society of Hematology. He serves as Director of the Hematology Malignancies Research Committee and Co-Director of the Myeloma Program at UCSF.
Dr. Martin’s research interests include investigating novel treatments for multiple myeloma. This includes early-phase trials of new drugs, novel combinations, and therapeutics to use with bone marrow transplantation. He has a special interest in antibody therapy for myeloma and has been involved in studies assessing the efficacy of CD38 antibody combinations in newly diagnosed as well as relapse and refractory multiple myeloma. Dr Martin leads the Immunotherapy Committee for the International Myeloma Foundation (IMF) and Directs the Transplant and Cell Therapy Clinical Program at UCSF. He is also involved in many other novel immunotherapies for the treatment of relapse and refractory myeloma and this includes participating in pre-clinical investigations and clinical trials investigating the use of antibody drug conjugates and dual targeted “bispecific” antibodies as well as chimeric antigen receptor T-cells. Dr. Martin has authored numerous articles in the peer-reviewed literature. Additionally, he is a teacher, mentor, and a frequent invited speaker.
Bruno Paiva, PharmD, PhD is co-director of the Flow Cytometry Platform and co-director of the Monoclonal Gammopathies Research Laboratory at the CIMA Universidad De Navarra in Pamplona, Spain with preferential dedication to multidimensional flow cytometry analysis of hematological malignancies. Dr. Paiva is also a key member of the i2TEAMM, which seeks U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and European Medicines Agency (EMA) approvals for MRD testing as a surrogate response endpoint in myeloma clinical trials.
Dr. Paiva "has been the principal investigator or co-principal investigator in 12 Research & Development (R&D) projects funded through competitive calls from public or private entities and has established more than 15 R&D collaboration agreements with several pharmaceutical companies. His research laboratory has been at the core of more than 20 national and international clinical trials in multiple myeloma and acute myeloid leukemia," according to CIMA Universidad De Navarra.
Dr. Paiva's "research objectives are intrinsically related to the dual nature of his clinical and research laboratory: to provide state-of-the-art biomarkers for laboratory diagnostics through intensive basic and translational research. He prioritizes its research in monoclonal gammopathies such as multiple myeloma (MM), light chain amyloidosis (AL) or Waldenstöm's macroglobulinemia (WM), and such research can be classified into five well-defined areas: (1) Pathogenesis of MM, AL and WM; (2) Risk of transformation in non-IgM and IgM MGUS; (3) Circulating tumor cells (CTCs); (4) Minimal residual disease (MRD); and (5) Immune monitoring." CIMA Universidad De Navarra further states.
Dr. Shaji Kumar is a consultant in the Division of Hematology and the Mark and Judy Mullins Professor of Hematological Malignancies at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. He is Chair of the Myeloma, Amyloidosis and Dysproteinemia Disease Group, and an Associate Chair for research in the Department of Medicine, Mayo Clinic.
“The myeloma community has been a second family to me, and I am deeply honored to be receiving this recognition,” said Dr. Kumar. “It has been my privilege to work with my colleagues all these years to improve the outcomes of patients with myeloma and related disorders, and I am very grateful for the opportunity to be part of this journey.”
Dr. Wee Joo Chng, is the Director of the National University Cancer Institute of Singapore at the National University Health System, Singapore. He is Group Director of Research Office at the National University Health System and Vice-Dean of Research at the Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore.
Dr. María-Victoria Mateos, is Associate Professor of Hematology and Consultant Physician in the Haematology Department at the University of Salamanca and Director of the Myeloma Unit, where she is responsible for coordinating the Clinical Trials Unit in Salamanca University Hospital’s Haematology Department. She currently serves on the European Hematology Association (EHA) as the chair of Scientific Program Committee for the 2019 congress.
Dr. Sigurdur Yngvi Kristinsson, Professor of Hematology at the University of Iceland and specialist in internal medicine and hematology at the Landspitali University Hospital in Iceland, is the recipient of the inaugural Brian G.M. Durie Outstanding Achievement Award. Dr. Kristinsson serves as principal investigator for Iceland Screens, Treats, or Prevents Multiple Myeloma (iStopMM®), a population-based MGUS and multiple myeloma screening study. He has led several large population-based myeloma studies in collaboration with major research centers and is a frequent speaker at international hematology conferences.
“Myeloma patients around the world have benefited—and will continue to benefit—from the important research contributions made by Dr. Kristinsson,” said Dr. Durie. “His work brings us closer to finding the pathway to a cure.”