Professor Victor Hoffbrand FMedSci has been awarded the Wallace H. Coulter Award for Lifetime Achievement in Haematology by The American Society of Haematology for his significant contributions to haematology in research, patient care, and education throughout his 55-year career.
The award is the American Society of Haematology’s highest honour, named after Wallace Coulter, a prolific inventor and engineer, best known for developing the Coulter Principle, which revolutionised the use of basic blood tests to screen for disease.
Professor Victor Hoffbrand FMedSci, Emeritus Professor of Haematology, University College London, said:
“I am extremely honoured to receive the Wallace H. Coulter Award for Lifetime Achievement in Haematology, and I am humbled when I see the list of the distinguished previous award winners.
“I am particularly delighted to receive an award named after Wallace Coulter, since it was the ability to count blood cells that first attracted me to haematology as a scientific discipline.”
Professor Hoffbrand is celebrated for his significant contributions to education. Throughout his career, he authored and edited several leading haematology textbooks which have received multiple awards and are recognised as some of the most influential books in haematology education.
Dr. Alexis Thompson, President of The American Society of Haematology, said:
“Professor Hoffbrand’s textbooks have had a profound influence on thousands of undergraduate and postgraduate students worldwide, and through his teachings he encouraged many of us to become haematologists.
“He exemplifies a lifetime of achievement in haematology, and I am looking forward to honouring his contributions in front of thousands of my peers this December.”
Professor Hoffbrand’s research interests are broad and have spanned three major research areas: megaloblastic anaemia, malignant haematology, and iron chelation. He has led pioneering research, including work that led to the licensing of the first oral iron chelator and the establishment of the first reliable method of measuring red cell folate.
Along with a team of researchers, Professor Hoffbrand established one of the first bone marrow transplantation centres in the United Kingdom and demonstrated that T-cell depletion of donor marrow could prevent graft-versus-host disease.
Through much of his career Professor Hoffbrand dedicated himself to training future generations of haematologists in research and in clinical haematology. His efforts spanned the globe, with trainees and research fellows from the United Kingdom and 41 additional countries, notably Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and Italy, many of whom are now heads of haematology departments.