Asad Bashey, MD, PhD - University of California, San Diego, California
Dr. Asad Bashey was born in India and grew up in England. After attending medical school in the United Kingdom, he trained in Internal Medicine at the University of Edinburgh, UK and in the treatment of blood and marrow cancers at the Hammersmith Hospital (Royal Postgraduate Medical School; now called the Imperial College School of Medicine), London, UK. He obtained a PhD at the University of London, UK. He later trained in Hematology and Medical Oncology at the University of California, San Diego. He is certified by the American Board of Internal medicine in both Hematology and Medical Oncology. He is currently an Associate Professor of Medicine within the Divisions of Hematology/Oncology and Blood and Marrow Transplantation at the University of California, San Diego where he specializes in treating myeloma as well as other bone marrow and lymph cancers. His research interests include the development of new treatments for myeloma. 

Rafat Abonour, MD - Indiana University School of Medicine

Rafat Abonour, MD, a board-certified specialist in Internal Medicine and Hematology, is the Chief of the Multiple Myeloma Program at the Indiana University Melvin and Bren Simon Cancer Center. In addition, Dr. Abonour holds the position of Associate Dean for Clinical Research at the Indiana University Medical School. Dr. Abonour received his medical degree in 1984 at The University of Damascus, Syria, and continued his medical training with a postdoctoral fellowship in immunology at the University of Wisconsin in Madison. His residency was completed at the University of Wisconsin, and he completed a fellowship in hematology and bone marrow transplantation at the same institution. Dr. Abonour is widely respected for his knowledge and accomplishments in bone marrow transplantation. He has published extensively on topics concerning multiple myeloma and bone marrow transplantation and is often an invited lecturer at professional organizations’ annual meetings. He is a reviewer for several journals and has contributed to several medical books. He is an active member of the American College of Physicians, the American Society of Clinical Oncology, the American Society of Hematology, and the American Society for Bone and Marrow Transplantation. In 2005, Dr. Abonour received an Excellence in Hematology Malignancy from the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.

James W. Huston

James W. Huston is the international best selling author of six novels. In addition to being an author, he is a partner in the law firm of Morrison and Foerster. Before law school he was a Naval Flight officer in F-14s and graduated from Topgun. He still writes, practices law full time, and lives with his wife and five children in San Diego. He was diagnosed with multiple myeloma in January of 2002. He has undergone most of the commonly used treatments including chemotherapy, thalidomide, an autologous stem cell transplant, and an allogeneic stem cell transplant. He continues to be very active, runs 3-5 miles a day, and recently renewed his pilot's license and medical certificate and flies every week.