Our Section Editors

Transplantation and Hemato-oncology: Charlie Craddock

Professor Charles Craddock Director of the Blood and Marrow Transplant Unit, Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Birmingham and Professor of Haemato-oncology, University of Birmingham.

Professor Craddock studied medicine at Oxford University and underwent postgraduate training in haematology at the Hammersmith Hospital, London. In order to pursue his interest in stem cell transplantation and leukaemia he undertook further research at Oxford and then trained in stem cell transplantation in Seattle, Washington. He returned to the Hammersmith Hospital in 1997 and in 1999 took up the post of Transplant Director of the Blood and Marrow Transplant Unit at the University Hospital, Birmingham. Professor Craddock’s research interests include the application of advances in the molecular biology of leukaemia to the design and delivery of new drug and transplant therapies.

Leukemia and Molecular Hematology: David Grimwade

David Grimwade is Professor of Molecular Haematology in the Department of Medical and Molecular Genetics, King’s College London School of Medicine and Honorary Consultant Haematologist.

He trained in medicine at Oxford University and St. Mary’s Hospital Medical School London. After general medical training in Oxford, he specialised in Haematology, working at the Royal Marsden Hospital Sutton and then on the University College Hospital rotation. He joined the research group of Prof Ellen Solomon at Imperial Cancer Research Fund, London in 1994 and subsequently became a Leukaemia Research Fund Bennett Senior Research Fellow in King’s College London, focusing on molecular characterisation of acute promyelocytic leukaemia.

His other research interests include identification of prognostic factors in acute myeloid leukaemia (AML), characterising the mechanisms underlying leukaemia-associated chromosomal translocations and evaluation of minimal residual disease (MRD) detection using quantitative PCR as a means for directing treatment approach in the context of the UK Medical Research Council/ National Cancer Research Institute leukaemia trials. He is a member of the NCRI Adult and Paediatric AML Working Groups and is responsible for coordinating molecular screening in the AML15/17 trials. His lab serves as the UK reference centre for APL molecular diagnostics and MRD monitoring to guide treatment with molecularly targeted therapies (ATRA and arsenic trioxide). He also leads the MRD Workpackage of the European LeukemiaNet (www.leukemia-net.org), which comprises a network of 28 labs spread across 12 countries involved in development, optimisation and standardisation of quantitative PCR assays.

Thrombosis and Hemostasis: Mike Laffan

Michael Laffan is Professor of Haemostasis and Thrombosis in the Department of Haematology at Imperial College, London, UK, and Director of the Hammersmith Hospital Haemophilia Centre in London.

After receiving his medical degree from Oxford University, Professor Laffan trained in haematology at the Hammersmith and Royal Free hospitals in London. He is a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians and the Royal College of Pathologists.

Professor Laffan’s principal research interests are the structure-function relationship of von Willebrand factor – in particular the role of glycosylation – and the mechanisms and regulation of thrombin generation. He is an associate editor of Haematologica and a member of the Advisory Board for Thrombosis and Haemostasis. Professor Laffan also serves as an examiner for the Royal College of Pathologists and as external Master’s degree examiner at the University of Malaysia. Among his duties as Professor of Haemostasis and Thrombosis, Professor Laffan is responsible for postgraduate education in haematology and serves on the Postgraduate Clinical Academic Training Committee.