Medical Advisory Board
Dr. Dai Chung: Vanderbilt Children’s Hospital; Nashville, TN- Professor of Surgery
Dr. Chung has memberships in numerous associations. Some include the American Association for Cancer Research, Children’s Oncology Group and the American Academy of Pediatrics.
Dr. Susan Cohn: Comer Children’s Hospital; Chicago, IL- Professor of Pediatrics, Director of Clinical Research Section of Pediatric Hematology/Oncology.
Dr. Cohn is a leading authority on Neuroblastoma. She has served on several clinical research groups including serving as the chair of the Children’s Oncology Group Neuroblastoma Disease Committee. She has published more than 80 peer-reviewed journal articles and also serves as a reviewer for the New England Journal of Medicine.
Dr. Natia Esiashvili: Emory University; Atlanta, GA- Assistant Professor in Radiation Oncology Department.
Dr. Esiashvili’s clinical interests include brain tumors and sarcomas. She is a member of the American Society of Therapeutic Radiation Oncology, the American Society of Clinical Oncology, the American College of Radiology, the Children’s Oncology Group and the Pediatric Radiation Oncology Society, among others. She serves as a manuscript reviewer for International Journal of Radiation Oncology Biology Physics, and has published several journal articles and book chapters. She has received various awards for her work in radiation oncology, as well spoken at a number of national and international conferences.
Dr. Adolfo Ferrando: Columbia University Medical Center; New York, NY- Assistant Professor of Pathology and Pediatrics
Dr. Ferrando is currently conducting research related to T-cell lymphoblastic leukemia. In 1999, he was rewarded the Special Doctorate Award from the University of Oviedo in Spain. He has served on the Editorial Board of Leukemia and is a member of the American Society of Hematology.
Dr. Douglas S. Hawkins: Seattle Children’s Hospital; Seattle, WA- Associate Hematology/Oncology Division Chief, Associate Director of the Center for Clinical and Translational Research
Along with his research roles, Dr. Hawkins is also a clinician at SCH and a professor at the University of Washington School of Medicine. Dr. Hawkins is also the principal investigator for COG activity at SCH and chair of the COG Soft Tissue Sarcoma Committee. He is a steering committee member of several COG committees, including the Soft Tissue Sarcoma, Bone Tumor, and Voting Body. He has focused on clinical research, particularly in the treatment of pediatric sarcomas. He is the COG chair of two clinical trials, one for Ewing sarcoma and another for rhabdomyosarcoma.
Dr. Douglas Hoffmann: WellStar Kennestone Hospital; Marietta, GA- Pathologist/Hematopathologist
Dr. Hoffmann earned his doctorate in medicine from University of Michigan Medical School and completed his pathology residency at University of California in Los Angeles (UCLA) and Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. He completed a fellowship in hematopathology at UCLA’s Center for the Health Sciences in the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine. He is a member of the American Society of Hematology.
Dr. Jacqueline Kraveka: Medical University of South Carolina; Charleston, SC- Assistant Professor
Dr. Kraveka is actively involved in clinical pediatric research in the Children’s Oncology Group, where she is a member of the Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma and Neuroblastoma Committees. She serves on the Anaplastic Large Cell Lymphoma, Neuroblastoma Developmental Therapeutic and the Neuroblastoma Clinical and Biological Risk Factors Task Force Subcommittees. Dr. Kraveka is also a COG Study Committee Member for ANBL0532, a Phase III Randomized Trial of Single versus Tandem Myeloablative Consolidation Therapy for High-Risk Neuroblastoma.
Dr. John M. Maris, MD: The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP); Philadelphia, PA- Chief, Division of Oncology
Dr. Maris received his MD from The University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine and completed his residency at CHOP. He completed a fellowship in hematology/oncology at CHOP and has board certifications for the American Board of Pediatrics and the American Board of Pediatrics/Pediatric Hematology-Oncology. He has special interest in the molecular genetics and treatment of neuroblastoma.
Dr. Damon Reed: Moffitt Cancer Center; Tampa, FL- Assistant Professor
Dr. Reed’s main clinical interest is in sarcomas. He is currently conducting a phase I/II study of TH-302 in combination with Doxorubicin in patients with advanced soft tissue sarcomas. He has been published twice in peer review journals.
Dr. Simone Sredni: Children’s Memorial Hospital; Chicago, IL- Research Assistant Professor
Dr. Sredni is currently involved in the study of childhood tumors of the kidney and of the central nervous system with special interest in the epigenetic mechanisms of regulation of the aggressive behavior of malignant rhabdoid tumors. Her purpose is to better understand the biology of these rare tumors and to uncover novel targets for future therapy development.
Dr. Greg Plautz: Cleveland Clinic; Cleveland, OH- Associate Professor
Dr. Plautz is the author or co-author of numerous original peer-reviewed manuscripts, reviews and book chapters. He is a member of the American Association of Immunologists, American Society of Hematology and American Association for Cancer Research and International Society for Biological Therapy of Cancer. He is currently the principal investigator for the Dedritic cell-brain tumor cell fusion vaccine.
Dr. James Whitlock: The Hospital for Sick Children; Toronto, Canada- Division Head of Hematology/Oncology
Dr. Whitlock is the Division Head of Hematology/Oncology and the Women’s Auxiliary Millennium Chair in Hematology/Oncology at The Hospital for Sick Children and Professor of Pediatrics at the University of Toronto. He is presently a member of the COG Acute Lymphocytic Leukemia Executive Committee and Vice-Chair for New Agents and Relapse and served that organization as Chair and Vice-Chair of national clinical trials and strategic committees.. He has also served on a number of committees for other national and international organizations including the American Society of Clinical Oncology, the American Society of Pediatric Hematology/Oncology, the Histiocytosis Association of America and the Histiocyte Society.
Dr. Vidya Gopalakrishnan: MD Anderson Cancer Center; Houston, TX- Assistant Professor, Pediatrics Research and Molecular and Cellular Oncology
Dr. Gopalakrishnan received her PhD from The University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and completed her postdoctoral fellowship at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. Her research focuses on studying the molecular basis of medulloblastoma and identifying novel therapeutic targets for the disease.
Dr. James Anderson: University of Nebraska Medical Center; Omaha, NE- Associate Dean of Research
James R. Anderson, PhD, is a Professor of Biostatistics and the Associate Dean for Research at the University of Nebraska Medical Center (UNMC) College of Public Health. He is a biostatistician, with specific research interests in the design and analysis of cancer clinical trials. He is presently the Group Statistician of the Children’s Oncology Group (COG).
Dr. Jonathan Gill: Children’s Hospital at Montefiore; Bronx, NY- Assistant Professor of Pediatrics
Dr. Gill’s main clinical interest is in sarcomas and rare solid tumors in children. His primary research interest is in Developmental Therapeutics and developing clinical trials introducing new agents or novel combination therapies. He is a member of the Children’s Oncology Group, Bone Tumor Committee.
Dr. David Loeb: Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine; Baltimore, MD- Associate Professor
Dr. Loeb received his MD and PhD from Columbia University in New York City, followed by training in Pediatric Hematology and Oncology at Johns Hopkins University, where he is currently an Associate Professor. His research interests revolve around translational research related to childhood sarcomas. He has a laboratory research effort aimed at understanding the role of a transcription factor called WT1 in the biology of sarcomas, another project aimed at identifying and targeting sarcoma stem cells, and is involved in numerous clinical trials, both investigator-initiated trials at Johns Hopkins as well as trials run through cooperative groups.
Dr. John Crispino: Northwestern University - Chicago Campus; Chicago, IL- Professor
Dr. John Crispino is the Associate Director of Education and Training at the Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center at the Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago, IL as well as a Lora S Lurie Professor of Medicine. Dr. Crispino studies the biology of normal and malignant blood cell development. In 2002, his team discovered that GATA1 mutations are associated with acute megakaryocytic leukemia in children with Down syndrome. Since that time, his laboratory has focused on understanding why children with DS face an increased risk of both myeloid and lymphoid leukemia and on developing improved therapies for the malignancies. Dr. Crispino is the Scientific Advisor of the Myeloproliferative Neoplasms Research Foundation and the Chair of the Medical Advisory Board of the Leukemia Research Foundation.
Carmel is a 16 year-old diagnosed with Leukemia. She had chemotherapy, radiation, and a bone marrow transplant in which her sister was a perfect match...