Victor Hoffbrand, DM, FRCP, FMed Sci
The American Society of Hematology (ASH) will recognize Victor Hoffbrand, DM, FRCP, FMed Sci, of the University College London, with the 2018 Wallace H. Coulter Award for Lifetime Achievement in Hematology, the Society’s highest honor. Dr. Hoffbrand will be recognized for his contributions to hematology in research, patient care, and education throughout his 55-year career at the 2018 ASH Annual Meeting & Exposition in San Diego.
“I am extremely honored to receive the Wallace H. Coulter Award for Lifetime Achievement in Hematology, and I am humbled when I see the list of the distinguished previous award winners,” said Dr. Hoffbrand. “I am particularly delighted to receive an award named after Wallace Coulter, since it was the ability to count blood cells that first attracted me to hematology as a scientific discipline.”
The Wallace H. Coulter Award for Lifetime Achievement in Hematology is named after the late Wallace Coulter, a prolific inventor and engineer. He is best known for developing the Coulter Principle, which revolutionized the use of basic blood tests to screen for disease by making it possible to count and size blood cells as they flow through an aperture. This award, which commemorates Mr. Coulter’s innovative spirit, visionary leadership, and entrepreneurship, is bestowed on an individual who has demonstrated lifetime achievement and leadership in education, research, mentoring, and practice.
Educational Achievements and Research Interests
Dr. Hoffbrand is celebrated for his contributions to education. Throughout his career, he authored and edited several of the leading hematology textbooks which are recognized as some of the most influential books in hematology education.
Dr. Hoffbrand’s research interests spanned three major research areas: megaloblastic anemia, malignant hematology, and iron chelation. Of note, his clinical research in iron chelation led to the licensing of the first oral iron chelator, deferiprone, which contributed to longer life expectancy for people with thalassemia major.
Early in his career he established the first reliable method of measuring red cell folate, an indicator of folate deficiency, and elucidated the DNA defect in megaloblastic anemia. Later, Dr. Hoffbrand and a team of researchers pioneered the use of biochemical, immunologic, and molecular diagnostic markers to classify leukemias and lymphomas and performed early tests for minimal residual disease in acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Dr. Hoffbrand’s team also established one of the first bone marrow transplantation centers in the United Kingdom and demonstrated that T-cell depletion of donor marrow could prevent graft-versus-host disease. ■
