The Incyte Ingenuity Awards in GVHD

Alice Houk is the Senior Director of Patient and Professional Services of the Aplastic Anemia & MDS International Foundation (AAMDS). The mission of AAMDS is to support patients and families living with aplastic anemia, myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS), paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria (PNH), and related bone marrow failure diseases. At AAMDS, Houk plans and develops all medical education programs, including symposia at national medical conferences, the biennial AAMDS scientific symposium, and web-based programs. She also oversees AAMDS patient education programs and services. Houk serves as liaison to the Foundation’s medical advisory board and with other professional and patient organizations, and she manages the Foundation’s research grant program. She holds a master's degree in Health Policy from the University of Maryland and a Nonprofit Executive Management Certificate from Georgetown University. Houk and AAMDS were also the recipients of the 2021 Incyte ingenuity Awards in GVHD. Learn more about her award-winning project.

Dr Barbara Abernathy is the President and CEO of the Pediatric Oncology Support Team, Inc. (POST), a nonprofit helping children and their families cope with the devastating effects of cancer. She has 35 years’ experience in nonprofits, 25 of those years at POST. Being a cancer survivor herself, she brings a personal touch to the children and families battling childhood cancer. She is also a vigorous advocate for those fighting blood cancer, facing a bone marrow transplant, or dealing with GVHD. She is adjunct faculty at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine and Florida Atlantic University and has authored scholarly peer-reviewed articles. Dr Abernathy has been an invited speaker at many national and international professional conferences, including being the keynote speaker for the BMT Infonet conference in 2019.

Dr Doris Ponce is an Associate Professor of Medicine as well as the GVHD Program Director at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. Her research experience focuses on allogeneic stem cell transplantation (allo-HCT) with an emphasis on GVHD. She conducts research for the prevention and treatment of acute and chronic GVHD, including investigator-initiated translational studies. Dr Ponce established a multidisciplinary GVHD clinic at her institution that currently serves a wide catchment area. Dr Ponce has been the recipient of several funding awards and her work has been featured in the journal Blood and presented in national and international meetings.

Dr Pooja Khandelwal is a member of the Division of Bone Marrow Transplantation and Immune Deficiency at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center and serves as Associate Professor in the UC Department of Pediatrics. She graduated from Kasturba Medical College in Manipal, India, completed her residency at the University of Arizona College of Medicine, and completed her fellowship at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center. Dr Khandelwal is a pediatric hematologist-oncologist specializing in bone marrow transplantation for hemoglobinopathies, malignancies and metabolic disorders. She also runs a multidisciplinary clinic focused on taking care of children with chronic GVHD. Her research interests focus on restoring and maintaining intestinal homeostasis in patients during the peri-transplant period. Her goal is to reduce the incidence of GVHD by using a variety of approaches, such as administration of specific nutritional compounds and modification of the intestinal microbiome. Dr Khandelwal and her organization were also recipients of the 2022 Incyte Ingenuity Awards in GVHD.

Susan Stewart is the Founder and Executive Director of the Blood and Marrow Transplant Information Network (BMT InfoNet). BMT InfoNet is a not-for-profit organization that provides information and support services to bone marrow, peripheral blood stem cell and cord blood transplant (hematopoietic cell transplant) recipients before, during and after treatment. At BMT InfoNet, Stewart oversees all operations, and as a transplant survivor herself, she brings great insight and perspective to her work. She is widely considered a vital resource to the entire transplant community. Stewart also authored Bone Marrow and Blood Stem Cell Transplants: A Guide for Patients; Autologous Stem Cell Transplants: A Handbook for Patients; Graft-versus-Host Disease: What to Know, What to Do; and CAR T-Cell Therapy: What to Expect Before, During and After – all of which are used extensively by transplant centers throughout the U.S. and Canada to educate patients. Stewart holds a degree in Sociology/Urban Affairs from Northwestern University.