Clara Bloomfield (1942-2020) was an internationally recognized physician whose three decades of groundbreaking research on adult leukemia and lymphoma have changed the way patients are treated.
Bloomfield was among the first to prove that elderly patients suffering from acute leukemia, which was long believed to be fatal, could be cured through chemotherapy. She also demonstrated that some patients with certain types of leukemia required stem cell transplantation for a cure, while others could be treated successfully without undergoing such intense intervention.
At the Ohio State’s Comprehensive Cancer Center, she served as cancer scholar and senior adviser. She was also a member of the Molecular Biology and Cancer Genetics Program, a professor of internal medicine and holder of the William Greenville Pace III Endowed Chair in Cancer Research. In 2000 she was elected to the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences. Bloomfield received numerous recognitions throughout her career, including the 2003 John P. Minton Hero of Hope Research Champion Award, the 2004 American Association for Cancer Research Joseph H. Burchenal Clinical Research Award, 2006 American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Distinguished Service Award for Scientific Achievement, the 2008 Henry M. Stratton Medal from the American Society of Hematology, ASCO’s 2009 David A. Karnofsky Memorial Award, and the 2012 Richard L. Schilsky Cancer and Leukemia Group B (CALGB) Achievement Award, and the 2016 Margaret l. Kripke Legend Award.