Nearly 25 years after arriving at Fred Hutch Cancer Center for his hematology-oncology fellowship, Bart Scott, MD, has been named the Miklos Kohary and Natalia Zimonyi Kohary Endowed Chair, established to support myelodysplastic syndrome research.
Endowed chairs are among the highest honors for Fred Hutch faculty members. They provide sustained, flexible funding via investment returns to support innovative research.
“It’s a great honor. I think of this as not simply recognition of the work I’ve done up to now but also of the work that we have yet to do to continue improving MDS care,” said Scott, a professor in the Clinical Research Division at Fred Hutch and the Division of Hematology and Oncology at the University of Washington.
The promise of better outcomes for more patients drives Scott’s work. “Physicians and researchers like Dr. Scott are the reason Fred Hutch is at the forefront of discovering and developing treatment approaches that save patients’ lives,” said Thomas J. Lynch Jr., MD, president and director of Fred Hutch and holder of the Raisbeck Endowed Chair.
A medical oncologist, Scott’s clinical focus is on adult blood and marrow transplantation and cellular immunotherapy for hematologic malignancies. He specializes in MDS, a chronic bone marrow problem that leads to low levels of healthy blood cells in the bloodstream, and related conditions such as myeloproliferative neoplasms (MPN).
Funding associated with the endowed chair will allow Scott to devote more time to MDS research, specifically helping to support clinical trial development and start-up costs for trials. His research priorities include continuing to design, test and refine strategies to achieve the best possible transplant outcomes for patients with this disease.
“Dr. Scott is a highly accomplished clinical investigator, very bright and highly regarded, not only at Fred Hutch but elsewhere,” said Joachim Deeg, MD, professor emeritus with the Clinical Research Division and a mentor to Scott since 1999 when he arrived for his fellowship. “It is to his credit that we were able to develop a very strong clinical MDS/MPN presence that has attracted many patients from not only Washington state but also the Northwest and beyond.”
Deeg was the inaugural holder of the Miklos Kohary and Natalia Zimonyi Kohary Endowed Chair, created in 2018 to acknowledge his exceptional contribution to MDS research.
“He is one of the most amazing physicians I’ve had the pleasure to work with,” said Scott. “He worked tirelessly to advance the field of MDS research and was terrific in educating not only physicians but patients as well. I would never say I’m filling his shoes, but I am trying my best to carry on his legacy in MDS here.”
Like Deeg, Scott devotes time to ensure patients are well informed. He will be among the experts presenting at Aplastic Anemia, Myelodysplastic Syndromes and Myeloproliferative Neoplasms: The 10th Seattle Patient Conference on June 22 at Fred Hutch. The free event, held in partnership with the Aplastic Anemia and MDS International Foundation, will update patients as well as their caregivers, family and friends on the latest thinking about how to treat bone marrow failure diseases and rare blood cancers.
Miklos Kohary received care from Deeg for MDS and from Peter Nelson, MD, for prostate cancer. He and his wife, Natalia, donated to Fred Hutch over many years to support research on both diseases, with their giving growing over time. When Mr. Kohary approached Deeg about either giving directly to Deeg’s lab or supporting the establishment of an endowed chair, Deeg encouraged him to do the latter.
“You have much more of a legacy and an impact in the long term by establishing a chair,” Deeg explained.
Scott concurred. “The Koharys have helped untold numbers of patients with their very generous donation,” he said. “Though Mr. Kohary has passed away, the gift carries on.”
“Miklos believed strongly in the physicians and researchers at Fred Hutch and was proud to support their important work,” said Natalia Kohary. “With Dr. Deeg’s retirement, I believe he’d be very pleased to see the endowed chair pass to Dr. Scott, who has dedicated his career to improving the lives of people with MDS.”
Endowing a chair is a means of providing ongoing funding for a faculty member’s work via investment returns and recognizing their contributions and excellence in their field. At Fred Hutch, donors can choose to endow a chair for a faculty member or a disease or area of research they care about with a gift of $2 million or more. Fred Hutch currently has 39 endowed chairs, which allow donors to partner with scientists and clinicians and invest in high-risk, high-reward research. Endowed chairs provide sustained, flexible support and promote forward-looking research.
Details of current MDS trials at Fred Hutch led by Scott and others can be found online.
Laurie Fronek is a writer and editor specializing in health and medicine. Based in Seattle, she has written for health care-industry clients, including clinics, hospitals, research institutions, insurers and publishers, around the country. Reach her at lauriefronek@comcast.net.
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