Dr. Elaine S Jaffe carried out her medical studies at Cornell University Medical College and the University of Pennsylvania, receiving an M.D. from the latter. Her post-graduate medical education was completed at Georgetown University Hospital and the National Cancer Institute of the National Institutes of Health. She has been Chief of the Hematopathology Section at the NCI since 1980. Among her awards are the Fred W. Stewart Award from Memorial-Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, the Lennert Prize from the European Association for Hematopathology, and the Maude Abbott Lecturer for the United States and Canadian Academy of Pathology. Dr. Jaffe was recognized for her outstanding mentoring abilities with awards from the National Cancer Institute and the American Society of Investigative Pathology. Dr. Jaffe was awarded an honorary degree (Honoris Causa) from the University of Barcelona and received the Distinguished Graduate Award from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine in 2011. In 1993, she was elected a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and subsequently was elected Chair of the Medical Sciences Section of AAAS. She was elected to the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies in 2008. In 2013, Dr. Jaffe was awarded the Stratton Medal from the American Society of Hematology. In 2019, She was named an NIH Distinguished Investigator.