María-Victoria Mateos

Morton Coleman, MD is the Founding Chair, LL&M Congress. He has been an Attending Physician at the New York-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center and a Clinical Professor of Medicine at Weill Cornell Medicine. He was the Director of the Center for Lymphoma and Myeloma, the chairman of the Medical Affiliates Board of the Lymphoma Research Foundation, President of the New York Cancer Society, the chairman of Clinical Research Alliance, among many prestigious appointments. He has served on numerous scientific boards. Dr Coleman has received numerous awards including those from the Cure for Lymphoma Foundation, the Lymphoma Research Foundation, The Waldenstrom's Foundation, Cornell University and Old Dominion University among others. He has authored hundreds of publications primarily in myeloma, lymphoma, and chronic lymphocytic leukemia. Among his many seminal observations were the development of the standard of care for Hodgkin disease for over 40 years, the first use of effective novel agents in myeloma, metronomic therapy for hematologic diseases, and the use of combination monoclonal antibody therapy, among others. He founded the Lymphoma, Leukemia, and Myeloma Conference a quarter of a century ago.

Ruben Niesvizky, MD is Director of the Multiple Myeloma Center and Director of Oncology Operations at Weill Cornell Medicine/New York-Presbyterian Hospital. He is Professor of Medicine at Weill Cornell Medical College and Attending Physician at the New York-Presbyterian Hospital.

Dr. Niesvizky received his medical degree from the National Autonomous University of Mexico, Mexico City. He completed a residency in internal medicine and a research fellowship in cell biology/granulomonopoiesis at the National Institute of Medical Sciences and Nutrition in Mexico City. Dr. Niesvizky served as Chief Fellow during his training as a clinical hematology fellow at Mt. Sinai Medical Center, New York. He trained as a hematology/oncology fellow at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, New York, where he was assistant attending physician for 6 years. Dr. Niesvizky is fluent in Spanish, Hebrew and English.

Dr. Niesvizky’s work has been published in the New England Journal of Medicine, Blood, JCO, Leukemia and Lymphoma, and Seminars in Oncology. He was the director of the clinical core of the Specialized Center of Research (SCOR) of the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society granted in 2000. He is the recipient of various grants and awards from the National Cancer Institute; a K23 award and 3 translational research grants for the development of new drugs. Dr Niesvizky regularly presents at annual meetings such as ASH and ASCO, of which he is also a member. He is an active participant in clinical trials of promising new drugs and medical procedures for the treatment of myeloma, lymphoma, and related hematologic disorders.

Dr. María-Victoria Mateos, MD, PhD, is Head of Myeloma and clinical trials Unit at the Haematology Department and Professor of Medicine at the University of Salamanca, Spain. She serves as President of GEM (Spanish Myeloma Group), with direct involvement in the design and development of clinical trials. She has coordinated many clinical trials especially in the setting of transplant ineligible and smoldering myeloma and these trials have profoundly influenced current options for the management of these patient populations. She has published over 500 papers in international journals with a H index of 102. She is also a member of the IMWG (International MM Working Group), IMS (International MM Society), EHA and ASH. She has been Councillor on the EHA Board between 2015-2019 and she is now a member of the IMS executive board. She received the Brian Durie Award in 2019, the Bart Barlogie Clinical Investigator Award in 2022 recognizing excellence in myeloma research, the Kyle life time achievement award in 2023 and the Waldenström Lifetime Achievement Award in 2025. She is the President of the National Society of Hematology since October 2022 for a four-year mandate.

Ruben Niesvizky, MD is Director of the Multiple Myeloma Center and Director of Oncology Operations at Weill Cornell Medicine/New York-Presbyterian Hospital. He is Professor of Medicine at Weill Cornell Medical College and Attending Physician at the New York-Presbyterian Hospital.

Dr. Niesvizky received his medical degree from the National Autonomous University of Mexico, Mexico City. He completed a residency in internal medicine and a research fellowship in cell biology/granulomonopoiesis at the National Institute of Medical Sciences and Nutrition in Mexico City. Dr. Niesvizky served as Chief Fellow during his training as a clinical hematology fellow at Mt. Sinai Medical Center, New York. He trained as a hematology/oncology fellow at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, New York, where he was assistant attending physician for 6 years. Dr. Niesvizky is fluent in Spanish, Hebrew and English.

Dr. Niesvizky’s work has been published in the New England Journal of Medicine, Blood, JCO, Leukemia and Lymphoma, and Seminars in Oncology. He was the director of the clinical core of the Specialized Center of Research (SCOR) of the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society granted in 2000. He is the recipient of various grants and awards from the National Cancer Institute; a K23 award and 3 translational research grants for the development of new drugs. Dr Niesvizky regularly presents at annual meetings such as ASH and ASCO, of which he is also a member. He is an active participant in clinical trials of promising new drugs and medical procedures for the treatment of myeloma, lymphoma, and related hematologic disorders.

Dr. Marc Braunstein is associate professor of medicine at NYU Grossman Long Island School of Medicine, where he also serves as the fellowship program director and co-director of the medical school hematology course. He is a member of the multiple myeloma and cell therapy programs at NYU Perlmutter Cancer Center with a clinical research focus on novel first line immunotherapy combinations for multiple myeloma. Nationally, he serves as associate editor for the ASCO Daily News hematology section and is a member on the committees for education for the American Society of Hematology and American Society for Transplant and Cellular Therapy.

Ajai Chari, M.D. is the Director of the Multiple Myeloma Program and a Professor of Clinical Medicine at the University of California, San Francisco.

Dr. Chari’s research interests include the development of novel chemotherapy regimens, including Phase 1 and 2 studies. He has served as the principal investigator (PI) of several investigator-initiated trials as well as the national and international PI of several industry-sponsored studies. With a long standing dedication to research, Dr Chari has been involved in each of the therapies approved in multiple myeloma over the last two decades. He has published numerous articles in the field and is a frequently invited speaker at national and international meetings.

Dr. Chari received undergraduate degree from Stanford University and his medical degree from the David Geffen School of Medicine at University of California – Los Angeles. He completed his residency in internal medicine at Columbia University Medical Center and a fellowship in hematology and oncology at the University of California – San Francisco.

Dr. María-Victoria Mateos, MD, PhD, is Head of Myeloma and clinical trials Unit at the Haematology Department and Professor of Medicine at the University of Salamanca, Spain. She serves as President of GEM (Spanish Myeloma Group), with direct involvement in the design and development of clinical trials. She has coordinated many clinical trials especially in the setting of transplant ineligible and smoldering myeloma and these trials have profoundly influenced current options for the management of these patient populations. She has published over 500 papers in international journals with a H index of 102. She is also a member of the IMWG (International MM Working Group), IMS (International MM Society), EHA and ASH. She has been Councillor on the EHA Board between 2015-2019 and she is now a member of the IMS executive board. She received the Brian Durie Award in 2019, the Bart Barlogie Clinical Investigator Award in 2022 recognizing excellence in myeloma research, the Kyle life time achievement award in 2023 and the Waldenström Lifetime Achievement Award in 2025. She is the President of the National Society of Hematology since October 2022 for a four-year mandate.