SOHO President John F. DiPersio, MD, PhD, will receive the 2026 American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Award for Outstanding Achievement in Blood Cancer Research at its annual meeting this year in San Diego on April 21. The award recognizes an individual’s achievements and contributions in any aspect of blood cancer research.
“This award truly belongs to my students, trainees, colleagues, and mentors,” Dr. DiPersio said in an email to SOHO Insider. “I have been so lucky to be surrounded by such great people.”
Dr. DiPersio is a co-chair of the 14th SOHO Annual Meeting in Houston, Texas, which will be held September 9–12. Attendees can register at soho.click/register.
In the award announcement, the AACR listed Dr. DiPersio’s contributions to the field, including the development of the hematopoietic stem cell-mobilizing agents plerixafor and motixafortide. He also identified AKT1/2 signaling in graft-versus-host disease, which led to the identification and approval of JAK inhibitors, including ruxolitinib (Jakafi).
“His discoveries defining clonal evolution in acute myeloid leukemia have transformed the understanding of cancer relapse and have advanced novel CAR T and CAR-iNKT (invariant natural killer T) therapies for acute lymphoblastic leukemia and multiple myeloma, expanding available treatment options and improving patient outcomes,” the AACR press release said.
Dr. DiPersio’s AACR award lecture will be held on Tuesday, April 21 at 4:15 pm. PT.
