HTRS Lifetime Achievement Award

Victor S. Blanchette, FRCP, FRCP (C)
Professor of Pediatrics
University of Toronto, Canada

Dr. Victor S. Blanchette is Medical Director of the Pediatric Thrombosis and Hemostasis Program in the Division of Hematology/Oncology at the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto, and Professor of Pediatrics at the University of Toronto, Canada. He is the McCaig Magee Family Medical Director of the SickKids-Caribbean Pediatric Cancer and Blood Disorders Initiative in the Centre for Global Child Health at the Hospital for Sick Children. He is Director of the Pediatric Comprehensive Care Hemophilia Program at the Hospital for Sick Children, and Chair of the International Prophylaxis Study Group (IPSG). Further, he is a recipient of the Canadian Pediatric Society 2009 Alan Ross Award, the Canadian Blood Services 2010 Lifetime Achievement Award, and the American Society of Pediatric Hematology/Oncology 2012 Distinguished Career Award. In 2017, Dr. Blanchette was awarded the Order of Barbados, the country of his birth, for his achievements in the field of pediatric medicine. Finally, he is an elected Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of the United Kingdom.

HTRS Member Spotlight - Dr. Victor S. Blanchette

Elaine Eyster, MD, FACP
Distinguished Professor of Medicine and Pathology
Penn State University

Dr. Eyster is Distinguished Professor of Medicine and Pathology at the Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center and Penn State College of Medicine. She was born in York, PA, and obtained her undergraduate degree from Duke University in 1956. She graduated from Duke University School of Medicine in 1960, and completed her medical residency and hematology training at The New York Hospital -Cornell Medical Center. Dr. Eyster joined the Hershey Medical Center of Penn State University in 1970. She became division chief of Hematology in 1973, and led the division until 1996. She founded the Hemophilia Treatment Center of Central Pennsylvania in 1973, and is the current Director. Further, she is the medical director of the Special Hematology and Hemostasis Laboratory at Penn State Hershey Medical Center.

HTRS Member Spotlight - Dr. Elaine Eyster

James G. White, MD  
Regents Professor Emeritus
University of Minnesota
Minneapolis, Minnesota

Dr. James White was nominated for the HTRS Lifetime Achievement Award for his contributions to the understanding of platelets.  He is recognized worldwide as an icon in electron microscopy (EM) and its application to understanding disease.  His use of electron microscopy has shed light on the ultrastructure of platelets. His work has uncovered the details of many platelet processes such as activation, aggregation, and secretion and contributed greatly to the understanding of several platelet disorders.  As a prominent figure in hemostasis, he published more than 700 manuscripts, been active in numerous organizations, and served on the editorial board of several journal.  He received his medical degree from the University of Minnesota.  After completing an internship at Detroit Receiving Hospital and service in the US Army at Ft. Mead, he completed training in Pediatrics at the University of Minnesota.  He began his long journey with electron microscopy during his fellowship the University of Minnesota, where he remained for the duration of his career.  At the time of this award, Dr. White was a Regents Emeritus Professor at the University of Minnesota in the departments of Pediatrics and Laboratory Medicine and Pathology.  He passed away on July 8, 2016 at the age of 86.  

Jack Hirsh, MD  
Professor Emeritus
Department of Medicine, McMaster University
Hamilton, Ontario, Canada

Dr. Hirsh is Professor Emeritus in the Department of Medicine at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario.  He was the Founding Director of the Henderson Research Centre, and is a former Chairman of the Department of Medicine. He established a thrombosis program at McMaster University that has been pre-eminent in thrombosis research for over 3 decades and has trained scores of scientists who now head up thrombosis units throughout the world. He was a founding senior scientist of and Vice-President of Research of Vascular Therapeutics Inc. After earning both his MBBS and MD degrees at the University of Melbourne Medical School, Australia, he completed subsequent training at Washington University in St Louis, Missouri, the London Postgraduate Medical School, and the University of Toronto. Dr. Hirsh developed and then investigated diagnostic techniques that have improved and simplified the diagnosis of thromboembolism disorders. His investigation of heparin and warfarin set the standards for their dosing and clinical use internationally.  He also pioneered the standardization of laboratory monitoring and dosing of warfarin, thereby increasing its safety and expanding its use to patients that had been denied the benefit of this oral anticoagulant. His studies contributed to the discovery of unique characteristics of low-molecular-weight heparin and led eventually to the identification of its potential clinical advantages.

Dr. Hirsh has authored 231 book chapters; 19 books; 312 abstracts and 666 articles, which have been published in various publications including the New England Journal of Medicine, Lancet, Circulation, Annals of Internal Medicine, and Journal of Clinical Investigation. Dr. Hirsh has received many national and international awards including Awards from the International Society of Haemostasis and Thrombosis; the American Heart Association; the American College of Chest Physicians and the American Society of Hematology.  He received the Trillium Clinical Scientist Award from the Government of Ontario and the Prix Galien Canada.  In 2000, Dr. Hirsh was inducted into the Canadian Medical Hall of Fame, was named to the Order of Canada, and received the Gairdner Foundation International Award for Achievement in Medical Science.

Kenneth G. Mann, PhD
Professor of Biochemistry and Medicine
Colchester Research Facility, University of Vermont
Colchester, Vermont

Dr. Mann received his Ph.D. in Biochemistry (C.S. Vestling) at the University of Iowa. After additional post-doctoral training in physical biochemistry at Duke University (C. Tanford), he moved to the University of Minnesota as an Assistant Professor. His interest in applying Physical Biochemistry techniques to elucidating the varied physical and functional interactions of proteins in the blood coagulation process was encouraged by a joint appointment at the Mayo Clinic (Mayo Medical School), where he achieved the rank of Professor of Biochemistry and Medicine and became Vice-Chair of the Department of Medicine. He came to UVM in 1984 as Professor and Chair of Biochemistry, and he relinquished the Chair in 2005. Dr. Mann has received many national and international awards, including the E. Donnall Thomas Award (ASH), the Sherry Award (AHA), the Wood Medal (ISTH), the Pioneer in Hematology Award (ASH), and Special Recognition Award from the American Heart Association in 2008.

A native of Ohio, Dr. Lusher received her bachelor's and medical degrees from the University of Cincinnati and did her postgraduate training at the Charity Hospital of Louisiana at New Orleans. She received fellowship training in hematology/oncology at Tulane, Children's Hospital of Michigan, and Washington University in St. Louis. In 1968, she joined Wayne State University School of Medicine and Children’s Hospital of Michigan. She later served as Chief of Hematology/Oncology, and Director of the Hemostasis and Thrombosis Center and the Coagulation Laboratories at the Children's Hospital of Michigan until her retirement in 2013.   Dr. Lusher was a Marion I. Barnhart Hemostasis Research Professor and Distinguished Professor of Pediatrics at Wayne State University.

Dr. Jeanne Lusher is internationally recognized as an expert in the development and management of factor VIII (FVIII) and factor IX (FIX) inhibitors, as well as the analysis and clinical study of new clotting factor concentrates for the treatment of bleeding disorders. Along with a colleague, she was the first to identify inhibitors as antibodies to factor VIII in 1966. She authored more than 270 peer-reviewed papers, nine books, and more than 60 book chapters.

Over the course of her career, Dr. Lusher took on many leadership roles within the field including first Co-Chair of ATHN along with Dr. Amy Shapiro in 2006. Dr. Lusher was the recipient of many awards including the Kenneth Brinkhous Physician of the Year Award by the National Hemophilia Foundation in 1993, the American Society of Pediatric Hematology/Oncology Distinguished Career Award in 2002, and the Hemostasis and Thrombosis Research Society Lifetime Achievement Award in 2009.  She served for innumerable years as a scientific reviewer for the HTRS Mentored Research Award Program, providing valuable insight into the many grant applications she reviewed.

Even more than all of her achievements, Dr. Lusher is also remembered for her outstanding character, connection and empathy with patients, superb mentorship, generosity, and kindheartedness. Her influence will continue far into the future.  Dr. Lusher passed away on September 13, 2016.

Dr. Green is Professor of Medicine Emeritus in the Division of Hematology/Oncology, Department of Medicine, at the Feinberg School of Medicine of Northwestern University. His clinical and research interests are in the area of bleeding and thrombosis. He has authored more than 300 journal articles and textbook chapters and has edited six books. He serves on the board of the American Thrombosis and Hemostasis Network. He is a member of the American Society of Hematology, a fellow of the American Heart Association, and a Master of the American College of Physicians. Dr. Green has been writing for NEJM Journal Watch Oncology and Hematology since 2006.