Keynote Presentation: 
Where We've Been and Where We're Going - Personal Reflections on Treatment Advances through the Lens of a Physician, Researcher, and Survivor

Aaron D. Viny, MD
Physician-Researcher and Leukemia Survivor   
Columbia University Irving Medical Center

Dr. Viny is an Assistant Professor of Medicine at Columbia University Vagelos College of Physician and Surgeons. He is a hematologist and medical oncologist and laboratory-based physician-scientist focusing on the study of clonal hematopoiesis, myelodysplastic syndrome, and acute myeloid leukemias. His research uses state-of-the-art 3-dimensional genomic techniques to uncover the genetic and epigenetic underpinnings of these diseases to find more precise and less toxic treatment modalities.

Dr. Viny received his medical degree at Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine at Case Western Reserve University and completed his residency in Internal Medicine at New York-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical College and fellowship in Hematology and Medical Oncology at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center.

Dr. Viny received his bachelor’s degree from the University of Michigan. During his junior year he was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia. After having a disease relapse in 2003 he underwent a bone marrow transplant from his brother and has been in remission ever since. "I am fortunate to have received the benefits of modern medical advances, without which my survival may have been uncertain. I do not perceive my battle with leukemia as a disability, nor do I wish it to be taken as such, however my personal health experience has undeniably influenced my career decisions and academic interests.” While Dr. Viny has many non-scientific interests, he states that it is due to science itself that he can more fully enjoy life outside of it.