COLUMBUS, Ohio – The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center – Arthur G. James and Richard J. Solove Research Institute (OSUCCC – James) has established a new center dedicated to maintaining and expanding the legacy of the late Clara D. Bloomfield, MD. The center will be initially supported by a $5 million commitment from the OSUCCC – James. Dr. Bloomfield, who died at age 77 in March 2020, was an Ohio State faculty member for 23 years and dedicated her career to research that revolutionized treatment for patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) and acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) via a science-based, risk-stratified therapeutic approach. She served as a Distinguished University Professor and held the William Greenville Pace III Endowed Chair in Cancer Research. She also served as a cancer scholar and senior adviser to the OSUCCC – James. During her time at the OSUCCC – James, Dr. Bloomfield established a base of more than 1,500 AML patients with detailed genomic, transcriptional, cytogenetic and clinical outcome data, gathered from national collaborative clinical trial group research. The data has been used to conduct scientific studies that have led to improved methods to inform clinicians and researchers about patient disease prognosis and strived to improve treatment options for patients with AML based on genomic factors. The new Clara D. Bloomfield Center for Leukemia Outcomes Research at the OSUCCC – James will focus on research in hematologic malignancies, including acute leukemias, myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) and clonal hematopoiesis. The center will also provide an avenue for access to this robust research data source and new research collaborations with the center members and staff making further scientific study possible. “National and international collaborations and data sharing are more important than ever in order to benefit our patients and learn more about the disease,” says Ann Kathrin Eisfeld, MD, a hematologist and scientist with the OSUCCC – James Leukemia Research Program. “This new center will further expand the existing data collection to patients treated at the OSUCCC – James over the past decade, which will allow for the analyses of patients treated with novel therapeutic options.” Dr. Eisfeld and John C. Byrd, MD, a Distinguished University Professor in the Division of Hematology and co-leader of the Leukemia Research Program, will lead the center. Drs. Byrd and Eisfeld both were mentees of Dr. Bloomfield. “Along with her pioneering research, one of Dr. Bloomfield’s greatest attributes — and one that she was most proud of — was her endearing mentorship and fierce advocacy for junior faculty,” adds Byrd. “The list of successful faculty whom she mentored is long. Justice by gender and race was a critical part of her work. She was a sage mentor for faculty and staff — even for the most senior among us.” Dr. Bloomfield’s Research Legacy Internationally renowned for her many discoveries and achievements related to hematologic diseases, her work resulted in her election to the National Academy of Medicine, an honor very few clinical researchers obtain. Dr. Bloomfield’s work over nearly half a century has had tremendous worldwide impact, resulting in the incorporation of cytogenetic and molecular genetic findings in the diagnosis of acute leukemias for the first time in the 2001 World Health Organization (WHO) classification and into patient management in hematologic malignancies, including selecting therapy in the most widely adopted clinical practice guidelines in oncology: those of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN). Earlier in her career, Dr. Bloomfield was the first to suggest and demonstrate that adults with acute leukemia, including the elderly, could be cured with chemotherapy, and to demonstrate that biomarkers, including chromosomal abnormalities, constitute independent prognostic factors that can be used to predict outcomes and to select treatment in adults with acute leukemia or lymphoma — a forerunner to personalized or precision medicine. In the early 1980s, she was instrumental in establishing Central Karyotype Review for trials conducted by Cancer and Leukemia Group B, which not only ensured a high quality of data for clinical and translational studies but also became the model for other cooperative groups and contributed substantially toward improving the quality of leukemia karyotyping in this country. Dr. Bloomfield also first identified several now-classic chromosome changes with prognostic significance in leukemia and lymphoma, and she was considered by most to be the world’s authority on how chromosome changes, certain gene mutations and gene expression changes influence treatment and outcomes in adults with leukemia. To learn more about patient care and research at the OSUCCC – James, visit cancer.osu.edu or call 614-293-5066. -30- Media Contact: Amanda J. Harper OSUCCC – James Media Relations Direct Line: 614-685-5420 Central Media Relations: 614-293-3737 Amanda.Harper2@osumc.edu