Waldenström Lifetime Achievement Award
Named for Jan Waldenström, a pioneer in treating blood cancers, the Waldenström Lifetime Achievement Award has been given by the IMS at each International Myeloma Workshop since 1989. This award is given to outstanding researchers in recognition of their long term contributions to the myeloma field.
Recipient Profile
Dr. Sagar Lonial earned his medical degree from the University of Louisville School of Medicine. He completed his internship and residency at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas, followed by a fellowship in hematology/oncology at Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta, Georgia. He is the Department Chair for Hematology and Medical Oncology at Emory University.
Dr. Lonial serves as Co Chair of the NCI Myeloma Committee, Co-Chair of the Scientific Advisory Board for the Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation. Dr. Lonial is the myeloma editor for Clinical Lymphoma and Myeloma and is an Associate Editor for the JCO Journal of Oncology Practice. He is also an ad hoc reviewer for Blood, Cancer Research, Clinical Cancer Research, Haematologica, Leukemia, and other journals, and has authored or co-authored over 400 papers and abstracts.
Dr. Lonial has worked in the field of immunotherapy and cancer, and has spent time developing the B-cell malignancy program with respect to novel targeted agents in laboratory models as well as early clinical trials. His previous laboratory work has focused on evaluating the impact of purified dendritic cell subsets on the nature of immune responses against antigen. Most recently, Dr. Lonial has focused on combinations of novel agents as therapy for myeloma and lymphoma, particularly evaluating combinations that may result in synergistic inhibition of the PI3-K/Akt pathway and the role of 14-3-3 in proteasome function.
He has received the Celgene Young Investigator Award, Indo American Cancer Association (IACA) Lifetime Achievement Award, the COMY Multiple Myeloma Excellence Award for Clinical Science, and the Giants of Cancer Care inductee, and currently holds the Anne and Bernard Gray Family Chair in Cancer.
Past Recipients
- 1989 – D. Bergsagel
- 1991 – R. Kyle
- 1993 – S. Salmon
- 1995 – M. Potter
- 1997 – R. Alexanian
- 1999 – B. Barlogie
- 2001 – H. Mellstedt
- 2003 – K. Anderson
- 2005 – J-L Harousseau
- 2007 – J. San Miguel
- 2009 – B. Durie
- 2011 – W. M. Kuehl
- 2013 – N. Munshi
- 2015 – M. Attal
- 2017 – M. A. Dimopoulos
- 2019 – G. Merlini
- 2021 – S. Vincent Rajkumar
- 2022 – P. Sonneveld
- 2023 – S. Jagannath
- 2024 – T. Facon
- 2025 – MV. Mateos
- 2026 – S. Lonial
Why Become a Member
The International Myeloma Society is a professional, scientific, and medical society established to bring together clinical and experimental scientists involved in the study of myeloma. The purpose of this society is to promote research, education, clinical studies (including diagnosis and treatment), workshops, conferences, and symposia on all aspects of multiple myeloma worldwide.
The IMS is a membership organization comprised of basic research scientists, and clinical investigators in the field along with physicians and other healthcare practitioners.
