In this episode, host Shikha Jain, MD, speaks with ASH president, Belinda Avalos, MD, about the importance of DEI practices in medicine, leading molecular medicine developments and more.

• Welcome to another exciting episode of Oncology Overdrive 0:14
• About Avalos 0:18
• The interview 1:18
• How did you know you know you wanted to be a hematologist and how did you end up in this space doing the work you’re doing now? 1:47
• Jain and Avalos on the innovations and patient relationships in the field of HemOnc that drive physician interest. 3:25
• What drove your passion to get involved in DEI and equitable care in medicine? 5:08
• Jain and Avalos on diversity in clinical trials. 7:48
• Jain and Avalos on the importance of multidisciplinary approaches to patient care. 9:08
• What do you see as the biggest barriers to driving change in this space? How can we actually make changes that will result in real-world transformation? 10:11
• Tell me about the work that you do in the spaces of women in hematology and medicine. 11:25
• What types of things should we be doing to drive gender equity changes in medicine? 13:40
• Do you feel hopeful about where we are going with the changes being driven by societies like ASH? 15:24
• What else excites you about hematology and the innovation in the field now? 17:02
• What are the biggest transformations we are going to see in hematology over the next decade? 23:26
• Where will you be focusing your time moving forward? 27:53
• If someone could only listen to the last few minutes of this episode, what would you want listeners to take away? 29:16
• How to contact Avalos 30:15
• Thanks for listening 30:44

Belinda R. Avalos, MD, is the American Society of Hematology 2025 president, and is a professor of medicine and a senior advisor to the president of Atrium Health Levine Cancer.

We’d love to hear from you! Send your comments/questions to Dr. Jain at oncologyoverdrive@healio.com. Follow Healio on X and LinkedIn: @HemOncToday and https://www.linkedin.com/company/hemonctoday/. Follow Dr. Jain on X: @ShikhaJainMD. Avalos can be reached by contacting ASH at www.hematology.org.

Disclosures: Jain and Avalos report no relevant financial disclosures.