Blanche Alter Receives American Society of Hematology Lifetime Achievement Award
, by Elise Tookmanian, Ph.D.
Blanche Alter
In 2023, Blanche P. Alter, M.D., M.P.H., former senior clinician and current special volunteer in the Clinical Genetics Branch, was recognized by the American Society of Hematology (ASH) with the Wallace H. Coulter Award for Lifetime Achievement in Hematology. She will be recognized alongside other exemplary hematologists who received Honorific Awards at the 2023 ASH Annual Meeting and Exposition in December. Dr. Alter is an internationally renowned researcher of inherited bone marrow failure syndromes, whose interdisciplinary approach greatly expanded our understanding of these syndromes. She retired from NCI in 2021. Below is an excerpt of the press release announcing the award from ASH:
"Dr. Alter, a renowned physician-scientist, is being recognized for a lifetime of accomplishments that revolutionized research for inherited bone marrow failure syndromes (IBMFS). She is well known within her field for spearheading the first interdisciplinary clinical research program dedicated to investigating cancer-prone IBMFS such as Fanconi anemia (FA), dyskeratosis congenita (DC), Diamond-Blackfan anemia (DBA), and Shwachman-Diamond Syndrome (SDS). Her groundbreaking research has been invaluable in developing screening recommendations to detect cancer as early as possible and help patients live longer.
Her journey to clinical medicine began as an undergraduate research assistant, but Dr. Alter quickly realized that she wanted to bridge the gap between the laboratory and the bedside. After graduating from Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, she pursued a pediatrics residency at Boston Children’s Hospital, where she developed a passion for hematology. The unique manifestations of hematologic disorders under the microscope fascinated her. She was the first researcher to prospectively investigate and quantify cancer rates in FA and DC through a groundbreaking pilot study.
After serving as director of the pediatric hematology unit at the University of Texas Medical Branch, Dr. Alter completed a master's degree in public health at Johns Hopkins to gain training in epidemiology. Subsequently, at the National Cancer Institute, Dr. Alter established a clinical research program that brought together epidemiologic and prospective studies on cancer and genotypes in major IBMFS. Her research has created a comprehensive body of knowledge about these disorders and their manifestations, diagnoses, and genetic causation. Her work has become the model other researchers use to study the mechanisms of cancer development.
As one of five women in a class of 92 students, Dr. Alter’s path to hematology was not without obstacles. Nevertheless, she shattered glass ceilings throughout her medical career, advocating for equal pay and equitable access to education. Her unwavering commitment continues to inspire the next generation of women in medicine. She is a respected authority in her field and a beloved mentor to many early-career scientists. Dr. Alter has been a member of ASH for more than 50 years."