The 2009 Biology of Blood and Marrow Transplantation

This year, the Educational Supplement celebrates its fifth anniversary of offering a compendium of articles based on sessions at the Blood and Marrow Transplantation (BMT) Tandem Meetings. Once again, this supplement provides an exciting overview of the state-of-the-art research on a broad range of basic and clinic science topics relevant to hematopoietic cell transplantation. The 16 chapters in this supplement have been written by acknowledged experts in a variety of fields. Included are many updates on transplantation-specific topics, including cord blood transplantation, graft-versus-host disease, and pediatric BMT issues. Disease-specific contributions regarding the role of BMT in acute leukemia, chronic lymphocytic leukemia, myeloproliferative disorders, and multiple myeloma are of great interest. Also represented are various biological disciplines, whose importance to clinical transplantation has recently emerged in such areas as innate immunity, inflammation, B cells, and genomics/proteomics. Perennial areas of concern, including bacterial and viral infections, late effects, vulnerable BMT patients and statistical support for clinical trial design, are covered as well. The meetings' Organizing Committee, with representatives from both the American Society for Blood and Marrow Transplantation and the Center for International Blood and Marrow Transplant Research, once again has assembled an outstanding group of speakers. This supplement serves not only as a printed record of these speakers' presentations, but also as a valuable reference for those unable to attend particular sessions. We know that authors of research articles frequently cite these supplements, because they serve as an important source of timely information. We are all indebted to the meeting presenters, who generously crafted such high-quality manuscripts, and to the associate editors, who not only helped organize the sessions, but also provided insightful and timely manuscript reviews. Thank you for your continued participation in the BMT Tandem Meetings. We hope and trust that you will find this supplement as informative and enlightening as its predecessors.