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Children's National Physician Honored for Work in Pediatric Hematology and Transfusion Medicine Research

Washington, DC— This past Sunday, Children’s National Medical Center’s Naomi L. Luban, MD, was honored by the AABB, the international association involved in the field of transfusion medicine and cellular therapies. Dr. Luban received the 2012 Tibor Greenwalt Memorial Award and Lectureship at AABB’s Annual Meeting for her work in pediatric hematology and transfusion medicine through research, education, and mentorship.

Dr. Luban is the Division Chief of Laboratory Medicine and Hematology in the Center for Cancer and Blood Disorders, director of the Blood Donor Center, and Vice Chair for Faculty Affairs at Children’s National. She is Professor of Pediatrics and Pathology at George Washington University School of Medicine, and an investigator in Children’s Research Network.

The Tibor Greenwalt Memorial Award and Lectureship recognizes an individual who has made significant scientific and clinical contributions to hematology and transfusion medicine and has communicated those advances succinctly and effectively to others. Dr. Tibor Greenwalt was the founding editor of Transfusion and was the first registrant of the first AABB Annual Meeting and a major investigator whose translational research was highly focused on improving clinical care.  Dr. Luban was chosen for this award because of her contributions to the field of pediatric transfusion medicine.

Dr. Luban’s lecture focused on how children are not to be considered just “little adults.” She described hematopoiesis, or the formation of the components that make up blood cells, the unique physiology in the fetus, infant, and child and how transfusion therapy must be tailored to match the pathophysiology of a sick infant and child  She then presented vignettes that stimulated her to conduct specific studies resulting in publication in leading journals in the field, many performed at Children’s National and others done in collaboration with colleagues at the National Institutes of Health, American Red Cross, and others around the world. Her scientific investigations and patient focused studies have fostered and advanced the field of pediatric transfusion medicine and established it as a distinct discipline due in part to her focused mentorship.  Dr. Luban discussed how pediatric research differs from adult research and described ways to rapidly advance pediatric research in general and pediatric transfusion medicine research in particular.

AABB’s Annual Meeting began this weekend in Boston and will conclude Tuesday, October 9th.

Contact Emily Hartman or Paula Darte in the Children’s National Public Relations office: 202.476.4500.

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