How One Hematologist’s Curiosity Is Changing Care: Dr. Lauren Merz Redefines “Benign Ethnic Neutropenia”
Sindy Escobar Alvarez, Program Director for Medical Research at Doris Duke Foundation, posted on LinkedIn:
”Scientists take nagging questions, and through relentless pursuit of the answers, make discoveries that can change lives, including their own.
This trajectory is illustrated in a recent Medscape feature on hematologist Dr. Lauren Merz, whose curiosity about a condition flagged as “benign ethnic neutropenia” changed the course of her career. Despite the fact that this particular marker of a low neutrophil count has little clinical impact, it has kept patients out of clinical trials, made them ineligible for certain chemotherapies, and subjected others to needless invasive testing.
Dr. Merz, assistant professor at Rogel Cancer Center at the University of Michigan has led the DDF-supported work of the American Society of Hematology to develop new reference ranges for patients with the phenotype that causes this low neutrophil count, and test them nationwide.
Read the interview to see how her quick path from curiosity to action is changing medical understanding, and will improve patient care for millions.”
Stay updated with Hemostasis Today.
-
Jul 28, 2026, 09:06Payal Desai: Highlights from the NASCC 2026 Sickle Cell Workshop
-
Jul 28, 2026, 08:43Flora Peyvandi։ Acquired Hemophilia A – An Illustrated Review Based on French Guidelines
-
Jul 28, 2026, 08:28Ujjal Didar Singh Sekhon: Exploring SynthoPlate Under P2Y12 Blockade
-
Jul 28, 2026, 08:27Sujeet Katiyar: You Share Patient Data with Your TPA. Where Is the Contract?
-
Jul 28, 2026, 07:50Mihail Celeski: Personalizing Anticoagulant Therapy for Frail Patients With Atrial Fibrillation
-
Jul 28, 2026, 07:36Ifeanyichukwu Ifechidere: What If the Test We’ve Trusted for Decades Has Been Telling Us Half the Story?
-
Jul 28, 2026, 07:10Wolfgang Miesbach: How Safe Is AAV Gene Therapy?
-
Jul 28, 2026, 06:59Fiona Robinson: New MASAC Recommendations for Iron Deficiency – Live Webinar
-
Jul 28, 2026, 06:49Vera Ghali: What Else Do Platelets Do Besides Clotting?