2026 Lifetime Achievement Award
- ptctc4
- Jun 11
- 1 min read
The 2026 Lifetime Achievement Award is presented to James Ferrara MD, DSc
Dr. Ferrara is the Ward-Coleman professor of Cancer medicine and director of the Center for Translational Research in Hematologic Malignancies at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York City. As a physician-scientist his clinical and research career has focused on the immunology of allogeneic BMT and its major complication graft-versus-host-disease (GVHD). He used innovative proteomic techniques to discover and validate serum biomarkers for acute GVHD and founded the Mount Sinai Acute GVHD International Consortium (MAGIC) to provide a multicenter database and biorepository with detailed information of the treatment and outcomes of over 2500 patients with GVHD.
His group has identified and validated biomarkers capable of guiding GVHD therapy because they predict outcomes at multuple time points during GVHD treatment, including initiation of fist line therapy, second line therapy, resolution of symptoms and onset of GVHD flares.
Dr. Ferrara’s pioneering mechanistic studies using mouse and human organoid models have illuminated unexpected interactions between the innate and adaptive immune systems and increased our understanding of the basic cellular and molecular mechanisms that drive GVHD pathophysiology. His research has led to conceptual breakthroughs and the discovery of novel therapeutic targets in order to make BMT safer and more effective for all patients. Throughout his career, Dr. Ferrara has emphasized the training of the next generation of physician scientists from pre-doctoral medical students, through post-doctoral fellows and junior faculty. His former trainees comprise a “Who’s Who” of GVHD research and now serve in key leadership positions as directors of cancer centers, Hematology/Oncology divisions and BMT programs.
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