Over the past decade, Mandy Lauw, MD, PhD, an internist-hematologist in Netherlands, has been building her clinical and research career while simultaneously working to gain a bigger voice for early-career physicians and scientists in the field.

Lauw, recently awarded the first-ever Young European Hematology Association (EHA) Award from the (EHA for her role in elevating the organization’s Young EHA committee, worked to gain a permanent observer seat at EHA board meetings for the Young EHA committee, while getting younger members involved in committees across the association.

She also advocated to have early-career members take more visible roles on the stage at the EHA Annual Congress, as both session moderators and speakers.

“That’s the snowball effect,” said Lauw, a member of the Department of Hematology at Erasmus University Medical Center in Rotterdam, Netherlands. “If you see that it’s feasible, then you are also more likely to want to do that yourself because it’s the new normal.”

Bridging Across Hematology

Lauw developed an interest in research early in her medical school days. As part of an honors program geared toward research, she followed a patient in the hematology department and learned not just about their treatments but also about the science behind their disease. The patient she followed had chronic myeloid leukemia, and Lauw said she became fascinated by the role of the Philadelphia chromosome in triggering the disease. That experience led to her next research opportunity during training, which was evaluating the JAK2 mutation in myeloproliferative neoplasms and thrombosis.

“One of the questions that was asked there is why these patients have such a high risk of thrombosis and whether, vice versa, the JAK2 mutation could also be detected in patients with thrombosis,” Lauw said. “That was the first bridge between malignant hematology and thrombosis in my research career.”

That project became the foundation of her PhD thesis and remains the focus of her research line today, looking at thrombosis and cardiovascular complications in patients with hematologic malignancies. 

Lauw’s expertise is in thrombosis and bleeding disorders, myeloproliferative neoplasms, and anticoagulation therapy, but she sees the full spectrum of malignant and nonmalignant hematology conditions. She chose to move from Amsterdam to Rotterdam for the opportunity to work at an institution where malignant and nonmalignant hematology are united in one hematology department. In addition to developing expertise around thrombosis as its own condition, understanding thrombosis in relation to hematologic malignancies or as a side effect of their treatment is also essential, she said.

Advocacy Focus

As Lauw was still completing her training, she became involved in the governance of the scientific societies relevant for her specialty and research focus.

“I’ve always had an interest in the organization of these societies, but also in advocating for early career researchers and physicians. If you look at the congresses, there’s a lot of science and education going on but at some point you start noticing that it’s always the same people talking on the stage and it’s mostly the senior people,” she said.

While it’s great to hear from the specialty’s experts and “rock stars,” Lauw said it’s also important to hear the voices of up-and-coming generations.

Just a few years after completing her medical degree at the University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, Netherlands, Lauw became involved in advocating for early-career physicians and scientists. From 2013 to 2020, she served as a member of the International Society on Thrombosis and Hemostasis Early Career Committee and served as its chair from 2015 to 2018. Subsequently, she joined the Young EHA Committee from 2019 to 2024 and chaired the group from 2021 to 2024. Recently, she also set up the Erasmus MC Cancer Institute Future Faculty program, aimed at promoting the next generation of faculty at her institution.

Having early-career professionals involved in society committees, governance, and programming is important, she said, because they can bring other views and insights and can provide important input on the challenges of starting out or becoming independent in clinical practice and research. This input can help to improve mentoring programs and research grants of societies, and to support career development.

Lauw has also pushed for more support for early-career professionals, including extending reduced membership fees or granting eligibility beyond the formal training years and into the first 3-5 years of independent clinical or research positions — a time that she said is often overlooked.

“It’s those first years as an independent physician, or when you start your lab, that are actually the most challenging ones because your whole support system and infrastructure is gone,” she said. “You need to get your own grants, or you need to arrange your own research time, and support yourself. And it’s also the time when many are raising young families and have different responsibilities ongoing.”

Antonio Almeida, MD, the past president of EHA, credits Lauw with boosting the impact of the Young EHA committee, increasing the professionalism of the group, and making it a prominent voice within the society.

“She strongly championed trainees, younger hematologists, and scientists by promoting meetings to understand their needs and translating them to the EHA Board, guaranteeing that the needs of early career professionals across Europe were addressed in EHA programs and recognizing the significant differences between countries,” Almeida said.

Lauw also worked to ensure sufficient grants went to young hematologists in countries in Europe where the entry-level opportunities are lower, he said.

Beyond EHA, Lauw connected with trainee councils of other major medical associations, including the American Society of Hematology, the European Society of Medical Oncology, and the European Society for Blood and Marrow Transplantation to collaborate about how to improve global access, education, and opportunities for hematology trainees and researchers.

Lauw noted that technically she no longer qualifies as a “young” member at EHA, but she still describes herself as early- to mid-career. Age is a convenient benchmark for organizations because it’s easy to verify, but it may not be the best way to assess who needs early-career support and resources because it doesn’t account for career changes, change in focus, and family or medical leaves, she said.

And the “young” descriptor can be problematic because it can also imply inexperience or inferiority, she said. That’s why she favors “early career” as a better descriptor.

There has been some pushback as Lauw and others have advocated for more roles for early-career clinicians, but she described it as a “give-and-take” process.

“I think if you show that you have the best interest for the society at heart and not just your own, that’s where you can make a difference,” she said. “In the end, we are the next generation and the future of the field and the society. We need to make sure that the field stays active, that the membership stays active, and that everyone stays involved in the future.”

Gathering Momentum

Looking ahead, Lauw said she is hopeful that she and other members of the early- career committees have set a strong example about the importance of early-career professional involvement, and that the importance of those committees won’t depend on the individuals chairing them.

“I hope I have been able to set an example for my colleagues — my junior colleagues and my peers — that there is room for us to make a difference already,” she said. “You don’t have to wait until you’re a professor or over 60 or a super-established researcher. At this stage, you can make a difference if you are motivated to do so.”

Lauw said she hopes that the Young EHA Award will play a role in setting that example too. “Of course, it’s been a great honor to receive the inaugural Young EHA award this June. However, its real significance goes far beyond me or my achievements. It is, foremost, a recognition that becoming involved in governance and advocacy earlier on in your career is possible, visible, appreciated, and acknowledged,” she said. “I hope that it also helps in justifying the time spent on these activities to supervisors and reflects the importance of contributions by other early career colleagues, similarly to scientific achievements.”

Lauw reported receiving research support (paid to institution) from Leo Pharma and ZonMw (organization for health research and development in Netherlands).