Pediatric Hematology & Oncology Program

The Pediatric Oncology Program of Yale Cancer Center is supported by a multidisciplinary clinical team comprising physicians and highly skilled advanced practice nurses with expertise in all aspects of childhood cancer care. The team is focused on the delivery of optimal care to our current patients and the advancement of new methods to diagnose and treat patients of the future. The team cares for children with all forms of childhood cancer, including leukemia, lymphoma, brain tumors, and solid tumors such as Wilms tumor of the kidney, bone tumors, and neuroblastoma. The team also provides care for complex and challenging benign tumors in all locations. Multidisciplinary care is generally orchestrated by a pediatric oncologist, but depends on smooth collaboration with many other services, including pediatric surgery, pediatric neurosurgery, orthopaedics, pediatric pathology and neuropathology, radiation therapy, and pediatric diagnostic imaging. The team meets weekly to discuss new and ongoing cases and to develop individualized treatment plans for each patient.

Every effort is made to deliver care on an outpatient basis, however, there are times when the child's acute care needs can only be met by the 24-hour services available in a pediatric hospital. Fortunately, Yale-New Haven Children's Hospital is available to meet those needs for all children. The goal is to provide the best medical care while optimizing the environment for pediatric patients and their families. In keeping with our philosophy of family-centered care, inpatient care for all pediatric cancer patients is provided by a single team on two adjacent hospital units. The units include a specially designated pediatric bone marrow transplant area, which houses the only pediatric bone marrow/stem cell transplant program in Connecticut. In addition to the superb oncology expertise provided by the Pediatric Oncology Team, the Yale-New Haven Children's Hospital is one of only a few in the country to provide 24-hour pain management by pediatric anesthesiologists. Many supportive care services are available, such as social work and child life (play therapy) support, clown visitation, and music and massage therapists help both children and families cope with hospitalization. For families coming from a distance, the nearby Ronald McDonald House serves as a home-away-from home, and the Kohl's Family Center on the seventh floor of the hospital provides a respite area for parents with showers, washing machines, and a kitchenette.

Outpatient treatment facilities also focus on providing a friendly and supportive environment for the days when children are in clinic. Treatments are administered in an infusion room, which has individual TV/video stations, computer access, and support from child life specialists. Our pediatric oncology patients can be seen Monday through Friday, with separate clinics for patients with brain tumors and for pediatric cancer survivors. The latter is the only clinic in Connecticut devoted to survivors of childhood cancer. The Connecticut Challenge bike ride, led by local notable Jeff Keith, supports this unique effort to provide services to pediatric cancer survivors.

All team members are also active members of the Children's Oncology Group (COG), an international organization dedicated to curing childhood cancer by providing national and international clinical trials for these rare diseases. Childhood cancer patients followed in either the Yale practice or in the Guilford practice (Pediatric Hematology/Oncology Associates) are regularly offered enrollment onto COG-initiated clinical trials. Team members not only enroll patients on clinical trials at Yale, but also contribute as leaders in COG.

	Balsamo, Lyn, PhD, MA	Associate Research Scientist in Pediatrics (Hematology / Oncology)	(203) 785-4640 Appts (203) 737-2228 Fax
	Chirnomas, Debbie, MD, MPH	Assistant Professor of Pediatrics (Hematology / Oncology); Director, Pediatric Bone Marrow Transplant Program	(203) 200-2400 Appts (203) 200-2409 Fax
	Dhodapkar, Kavita, MBBS	Associate Professor of Pediatrics (Hematology / Oncology)	(203) 785-4640 Appts (203) 737-2228 Fax
	Duncan, Charles Cecil, MD	Professor of Neurosurgery and of Pediatrics; Director, Neurosurgery Residency Program; Director, Pediatric Neurosurgery	(203) 785-2809 Appts (203) 785-6916 Fax
	Friedlaender, Gary Elliott, MD	Wayne O. Southwick Professor of Orthopaedics and Rehabilitation and Professor of Pathology; Chair, Department of Orthopaedics and Rehabilitation; Clinical Program Leader, Sarcoma Program, Smilow Cancer Hospital	(203) 737-5660 Appts (203) 737-1102 Fax
	Goodman, Rob, MB BChir	Associate Professor of Diagnostic Radiology; Interim Chairman ; Chief, Pediatric Imaging	(203) 688-2433 Appts (203) 785-3024 Fax
	Hattangadi, Shilpa, MD	Assistant Professor of Pediatrics (Hematology / Oncology) and of Pathology; Assistant Professor, Pathology	(203) 785-4640 Appts (203) 737-2228 Fax
	Hogan, Mary Jane S, MD	Clinical Instructor in Pediatrics (Hematology / Oncology)	(203) 785-4640 Appts (203) 737-2228 Fax
	Kadan-Lottick, Nina, MD	Associate Professor of Pediatrics (Hematology / Oncology); Medical Director, HEROS Program	(203) 785-4081 Appts (203) 737-2228 Fax
	Kupfer, Gary, MD	Professor of Pediatrics (Hematology / Oncology) and of Pathology; Clinical Program Leader, Pediatric Hematology & Oncology Program, Smilow Cancer Hospital; Section Chief, Pediatric Hematology/Oncology; Clinical Research Program Leader, Pediatric Hematology & Oncology Program, Yale Cancer Center	(203) 785-4640 Appts (203) 737-2228 Fax
	Lindskog, Dieter M., MD	Assistant Professor of Orthopaedics and Rehabilitation; Clinical Research Program Director, Sarcoma Program, Yale Cancer Center	(203) 737-5656 Appts (203) 737-1102 Fax
	Massaro, Stephanie A, MD		(203) 785-4640 Appts (203) 737-2228 Fax
	McNamara, Joseph M., MD	Associate Professor of Pediatrics (Hematology / Oncology)	(203) 453-2013 Appts (203) 453-6404 Fax
	Miller, Cindy Renee, MD	Associate Professor of Diagnostic Radiology	(203) 688-2433 Appts (203) 785-4328 Fax
	Pashankar, Farzana D, MD, MBBS, MRCP(UK)	Associate Professor of Pediatrics (Hematology / Oncology)	(203) 785-4640 Appts (203) 737-2228 Fax
	Pels, Salley G, MD	Instructor in Pediatrics (Hematology / Oncology); Associate Director, Yale Hemostasis Center	(203) 785-4640 Appts
	Roberts, Kenneth B, MD	Associate Professor of Therapeutic Radiology; Medical Director, Yale-New Haven Shoreline Medical Center, Department of Radiation Oncology; Associate Chief and Medical Director for Radiation Oncology at Shoreline Medical Center, Yale-New Haven Hospital	(203) 200-2000 Appts (203) 200-2001 Fax
	Touloukian, Robert James, MD, FACS	Professor of Surgery (Pediatrics)	(203) 785-2701 Appts (203) 785-3820 Fax

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