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Michelle M. Le Beau, PhD, director of the University of Chicago Comprehensive Cancer Center (UCCCC), assumed a 2-year term as president of the Association of American Cancer Institutes on November 1. She succeeds William S. Dalton, MD, PhD, former head of the Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa, FL.

Representing 95 academic and independent cancer research centers in the United States, the organization educates policy leaders, major funders, and the public about the importance of cancer research.

Le Beau also directs the cancer cytogenetics laboratory at UCCCC. Her research focuses on cytogenetic abnormalities in malignant hematologic diseases, defining subsets of leukemias and lymphomas, and identifying genetic pathways that lead to myeloid leukemias.

Janis L. Abkowitz, MD, a professor of medicine and the head of the Division of Hematology at the University of Washington in Seattle, became president of the American Society of Hematology at the organization's annual meeting this month. Serving a 1-year term, she succeeds Armand Keating, MD, a professor of medicine and director of the Division of Hematology at the University of Toronto in Canada.

Abkowitz's research interests include hematopoietic stem cells, the clonal evolution of hematologic disorders, the molecular and cellular control of erythropoiesis, and heme physiology and trafficking. Her clinical interests include marrow failure, myelodysplastic syndrome, and myeloproliferative disorders.

In addition, Abkowitz acts as an advisor to the NIH. She has also served on the editorial boards of Blood and Leukemia.

For more news on cancer research, visit Cancer Discovery online at http://CDnews.aacrjournals.org.