NHF held its 5th annual Spring Soiree on May 21, 2015. The more than 200 guests gathered to celebrate the accomplishments of three honorees: Steven W. Pipe, MD, who received the Leadership in Research Award; Jeanne M. Lusher, MD, who received the Inspiration Award; and CSL Behring, which was honored with the Corporate Leadership Award.
Pipe has been involved with NHF since 2000, when he received a Career Development Award. Currently, he is professor and the Laurence A. Boxer Research Professor of Pediatrics and Communicable Diseases and Professor of Pathology at the University of Michigan Ann Arbor. He is also the division director of Pediatric Hematology and Oncology and the medical director of the Pediatric Hemophilia and Coagulation Disorders Program at the university, as well as the medical director of the Special Coagulation Laboratory at the University of Michigan. Pipe also serves as chair of the board of directors for the American Thrombosis and Hemostasis Network (ATHN) and was recently elected chair of NHF’s Medical and Scientific Advisory Council (MASAC).
Lusher has had a long, distinguished career in pediatric hematology, as both a clinician and a researcher. In 1968, she joined Wayne State University School of Medicine (WSU) as an assistant professor of pediatrics, and Children’s Hospital of Michigan (CHM) as a pediatric hematologist/oncologist. Her long career at WSU and CHM culminated in her becoming chief of Hematology/Oncology at CHM and Marion Barnhard Hemostasis Research Professor and Distinguished Professor of Pediatrics at WSU. As a researcher, she focused on inhibitor development in factor VIII patients. Along with a colleague, she was the first to identify inhibitors as antibodies to factor VIII. Lusher received NHF’s Physician of the Year award in 1993 and the Distinguished Career Award from the Hemostasis & Thrombosis Research Society in 2009. She was elected to lifetime membership in WSU’s Academy of Scholars as Emeritus Distinguished Professor of Pediatrics in 2001.
CSL Behring was honored with the Corporate Leadership Award for its long-standing support of NHF’s programs and services, particularly women’s initiatives. It was a founding sponsor of Project Red Flag, and has continued to support programs for men and women living with von Willebrand disease. The award was accepted by Paul Perreault, CEO and managing director of CSL Limited.
The evening was emceed by TV journalist Jodi Applegate, and featured both a silent and live auction. It raised nearly $400,000 for the foundation. NHF is grateful for the support of Title Sponsor CSL Behring, Presenting Sponsor Novo Nordisk, and Visionary Sponsors Baxter HealthCare and Biogen.