Charles A. Schiffer, M.D., WSU professor of medicine and oncology at the Karmanos Cancer Institute, recently received the fifth annual Celgene Career Achievement Award in Clinical Hematology Research.
Celgene Corp., a global pharmaceutical company, presented Dr. Schiffer the award at the 48th American Society of Hematology conference in Orlando to honor him for his significant contributions to the field of hematology.
Dr. Schiffer is head of the leukemia and lymphoma multidisciplinary team at the Barbara Ann Karmanos Cancer Center. Jeffrey Zonder, M.D., WSU assistant professor of medicine and oncology at KCC, nominated Dr. Schiffer for the award.The selection committee, comprised of five internationally leading hematologists, selected Dr. Schiffer from a number of nominations.
Dr. Schiffer received his bachelor's degree from Brandeis University in Waltham, Massachusetts, and his medical degree from New York University School of Medicine. Prior to joining KCC, Dr. Schiffer was chief in the division of hematology/oncology at the University of Maryland School of Medicine in Baltimore.
Dr. Schiffer has authored and co-authored more than 270 articles and 75 book chapters on topics concerning the treatment of leukemia in adults, platelet transfusion and granulocyte transfusion therapy, among others. He has served on the editorial boards for Blood, the Journal of Clinical Oncology, International Journal of Hematology, Transfusion Medicine Reviews and Transfusion. Committee memberships have included chairman of the Leukemia Committee of the Cancer and Leukemia Group B, chairman of the Food and Drug Administration Oncologic Drug Advisory Committee, and grant reviews for the National Cancer Institute and the Leukemia/Lymphoma Society of America. Dr. Schiffer has been named among American Health Magazine's and Castle Connelly's "Best Doctors in America," and Good Housekeeping Magazine's "Best Cancer Specialists in the US." In 2006, he received the Dr. John J. Kenney Award from the Leukemia/Lymphoma Society of America.
"I have been privileged and fortunate to be able to work with many energetic, devoted and creative people through the years and am very proud to share this recognition with them and with the thousands of patients who participated in clinical trials through the many years," he said. "There is great satisfaction in being involved in developing approaches which produced some significant improvements in patient care and outcome."