Speaker bios – Immunoglobulin support for patients with hematologic malignancies: when should you discuss starting, how should you dose, and when is it safe to consider stopping
Adil Adatia
Adil Adatia, MD is an assistant professor in the Department of Medicine at the University of Alberta in Edmonton, Alberta.
Dr. Adatia earned his medical degree at the University of Saskatchewan in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada. He then completed a residency in internal medicine at the University of Alberta, followed by a fellowship in clinical immunology and allergy at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. He subsequently received a prestigious fellowship award from CIHR and the Canadian Allergy, Asthma, and Immunology Foundation to support his further training in translational research at McMaster University.
Dr. Adatia has been principal investigator or co-investigator for several clinical trials and has been a presenter at national and international medical conferences in Canada and the United States. His clinical work and research are focused on immunodeficiencies, hereditary angioedema and severe asthma.
Guido Lancman
I am active staff within the Lymphoma, Myeloma, Transplant group at Princess Margaret Cancer Centre and Assistant Professor in the Department of Medicine at the University of Toronto. I am a clinician-investigator with a clinic focus on plasma cell dyscrasis and research interest in optimizing the efficacy and safety of novel therapies in multiple myeloma, with a particular interest in immunotherapies. I am involved in the development of multiple myeloma clinical trials through Princess Margaret and through the Canadian Myeloma Research Group, as well as site PI of large multi-centre trials.
Jeannie Callum
Jeannie L. Callum, MD, FRCPC, is a Transfusion Medicine Specialist and Hematologist at Kingston Health Sciences Center and Professor in the Department of Pathology and Molecular Medicine at Queen’s University.
She also serves as the lead for the QUEST transfusion research program at the University of Toronto and is a Professor in the Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathobiology at the University of Toronto.
Her primary interests in transfusion medicine include error tracking, blood utilization, and the management of the coagulopathy associated with traumatic injury and post cardiac surgery. She was involved in the development of the U.S. Biovigilance Network and the Canadian Transfusion Error Surveillance System. She has been involved with numerous transfusion clinical trials including ABLE, PROPPR, FIIRST, TACS, FIBRES, ROC-TXA, FARES and FiiRST-2.
She has written extensively about issues in transfusion medicine, publishing more than 150 peer-reviewed articles and authoring numerous book chapters. She also was the lead author on the Provincial (Ontario) transfusion handbook titled “Bloody Easy,” now preparing its fifth edition. In addition, she is on the editorial board for the “Transfusion Medicine Reviews” and “Transfusion” journals.
She earned her medical degree and completed a fellowship in internal medicine at the University of Toronto. In addition, Callum received transfusion medicine fellowship training with Canadian Blood Services.
Zoe McQuiten
Professor Zoe McQuilten is a haematologist at Alfred Health and Head of Cancer Research Program and Deputy Director of the Transfusion Research Unit, School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine at Monash University. She is the Chair of the Supportive Care Working Group for the Australasian Leukaemia and Lymphoma Group. Her research is focused on interventions to improve supportive care in blood cancers and transfusion in areas of major blood use, including blood diseases, critical care and trauma. She is lead investigator on a number of national and international clinical trials and oversees a large clinical registry program.
Abi Vijenthira
Abi Vijenthira is a hematologist and clinician investigator at Princess Margaret Cancer Centre in Toronto, and Assistant Professor in the Department of Medicine at the University of Toronto. She completed her medicine training in Ottawa, and internal medicine, hematology, and lymphoma subspecialty training in Toronto. She also completed a research fellowship in chronic lymphocytic leukemia at the Dana Farber Cancer Institute in Boston, and a Master of Science in Clinical Epidemiology at Harvard University. Abi’s research interests are in the immune dysfunction experienced by patients with lymphoma, and novel therapies and outcomes research in this population.
Erica Wood
Professor Erica Wood is head of the Transfusion Research Unit at Monash University and a consultant haematologist at Monash Health in Melbourne, Australia. She is an National Health and Medical Research Council Leadership Fellow and leads the NHMRC Blood Synergy research program.
Erica is past president of the International Society of Blood Transfusion, and co-chair of the WHO Advisory Group on Blood Regulation, Availability and Safety. She is former president of the Australian and New Zealand Society of Blood Transfusion and the International Haemovigilance Network. Erica serves on a number of Australian government advisory committees and served as Chief Examiner (Haematology) for the Royal College of Pathologists of Australasia.
Erica is an Associate Editor for Blood and member of the ASH Scientific Committee on Transfusion Medicine.
Erica is a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Health and Medical Sciences, and in 2023 was awarded an Order of Australia for distinguished service to haematology and transfusion medicine.
Dr. Kathryn Webert is a Medical Director and Special Advisor with Canadian Blood Services.
Dr. Webert’s training includes Internal Medicine and Hematology with fellowship training in Hemostasis and Transfusion Medicine. She received her MSc in Health Research Methodology from McMaster University. She is an Associate Professor with the Department of Pathology and Molecular Medicine at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.
Dr. Webert’s clinical interests include transfusion medicine, benign hematology, and hemostasis and coagulation. Dr. Webert’s areas of research interest include the utilization of blood and blood products and bleeding in patients with bone marrow failure.