Hematology, Oncology, and Stem Cell Transplantation

The Division of Hematology, Oncology, and Stem Cell Transplantation’s more than 30 faculty members and 75 staff provide compassionate state-of-the-art care, perform cutting-edge, extramurally supported research, and train the next generation of leaders in our field.

Clinical Services

We are home to the largest and most comprehensive pediatric oncology program in the tristate area, and one of the largest centers in the nation for stem cell and bone marrow transplantation. Our clinical programs include:

• Pediatric Cancer Foundation Developmental Therapeutics Program: The only National Cancer Institute-sponsored Children’s Oncology Group Phase 1 Consortium site in the New York-New Jersey-Connecticut area, and one of the founding members of the Therapeutic Approaches to Childhood Leukemia (TACL) consortium
• Pediatric Liver Cancer Program: With four board-certified pediatric gastrointestinal transplant specialists, we have performed more than twice as many pediatric liver transplants as any other program in the region (see the Scientific Registry of Transplant Recipients)
• Precision in Pediatric Sequencing (PIPseq) Program: Our PIPseq program is one of a few in the U.S. and the only one in New York to prospectively sequence cancers, create personalized avatars, and use the results to make clinical decisions
• Sickle Cell Disease
• Stem Cell Transplant Program
• Center for Comprehensive Wellness (CCW): The CCW assimilates integrative treatments into each patient’s care and conducts research on the patterns of use and overall effectiveness of complementary and alternative medicine and nutrition throughout the world
• Center for Survivor Wellness: We provide continuity of care to address the ongoing impact of cancer treatment on the family, relationships, body image, school, and employment

Research

With NIH funding, faculty members in the division conduct basic research on the causes of leukemia and brain tumors and have identified new genetic changes resulting in cancer formation. We are also investigating the mechanisms that enable leukemia cells to evade the immune system in the bone marrow.

Members of our translational research division have advanced several new therapeutic approaches for pediatric leukemia, brain tumors, sarcomas, and neuroblastoma. We also have active studies aimed at improving the treatment of childhood blood disorders, including bleeding disorders, iron deficiency anemia, and sickle cell disease.

We maintain a large number of clinical trials that provide bone marrow transplantation for children with cancer and blood disorders. We are studying approaches that may help improve control of symptoms in children with sickle cell disease as well as definitive methods to cure the disease. Our clinical research program brings the latest therapies to every child with cancer we treat, and our precision medicine program allows us to tailor therapies based on state-of-the-art technologies.

Education

We provide clinical training and research opportunities to medical students and residents. Our three-year Oncology, Hematology, and Stem Cell Transplant Fellowship Program has both a clinical and research focus.

New Appointments

• Robyn Gartrell, MD
• Dominder Kaur, MD
• Nobuko Hijiya, MD
• Lenat Joffe, MD
• Jovana Pavisic, MD
• Luca Szalontay, MD

Promotions

• Darrell Yamashiro, MD, PhD, Professor

Honors and Awards

Stergios Zacharoulis, MD

• Herbert & Florence Irving Professorship in Pediatric Neuro-Oncology

Nobuko Hijiya, MD

• Herbert & Florence Irving Professorship in Pediatric Developmental Therapeutics

Shan Zha, MD, PhD

• James A. Wolff Associate Professorship of Pediatrics

Monica Bhatia, MD

• Chair, Sickle Cell Transplant Advocacy and Research Alliance

Gary Brittenham, MD

• Visiting Professor, Laboratory of Human Nutrition, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH Zürich), 2018–2019

Nancy Green, MD

• Research award for being among the top NIH-funded faculty, Dept. of Pediatrics, 2018, 2019

Lenat Joffe, MD

• Fellow of the NIH National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD)

Justine Kahn, MD, MS

• NCORP Pediatric Oncology Representative at Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center, 2019
• Columbia University Irving Medical Center Minority/Underserved National Cancer Institute (NCI) Community Oncology Research Program (NCORP)
• Young Investigator Award Best Research Abstract, International Symposium on Hodgkin Lymphoma (ISHL-11), Cologne, Germany, 2018

Margaret Lee, MD

• Distinguished Service Award, 26th Annual Lifetime Achievement Gala Sickle Cell Thalassemia Patient Network, 2019

Cindy Neunert, MD

• Appointed Member of the American Society of Hematology Committee on Quality
• Chair of the American Society of Hematology Guideline committee for Immune Thrombocytopenia

Jovana Pavisic, MD

• CUIMC: Oberfield Prize in Translational Science, 2019

Dara Steinberg, PhD

• Elected Co-Chair, Research, Intervention & Outcomes, Consultation Liaison Special Interest Group, Society of Pediatric Psychology (APA Division 54)

Katherine Ender, MD

• Nominated to the VP&S Academy of Clinical Excellence

Highlights

Florence and Herbert Irving Clinical Research Career Award: Finding New Uses for Existing Therapies

Novel therapies are often considered the most innovative tools to improve care for cancers with poor prognoses. But a team of Columbia researchers is using a different tactic: they are exploring ways to repurpose drugs approved by the FDA for other conditions and existing experimental therapies in these difficult-to-treat cancers.

Department Newsroom

Clinical Trial Begins for Promising Sickle Cell Gene Editing Treatment

Promising new research is now bringing hope for patients with SCD. Monica Bhatia, MD, director of Columbia’s Pediatric Stem Cell Transplant Program, is participating in an international clinical trial evaluating the use of gene editing as a curative treatment for patients with sickle cell disease and the related condition, thalassemia.

Department Newsroom

A New Paradigm for Brain Tumors

The brain is shielded from most toxins and pathogens by a highly complex network of blood vessels—the blood-brain barrier—that restricts the size and chemical composition of molecules that can cross vessel walls into brain tissue. This barrier is also one of the major challenges neuro-oncologists face in treating brain tumors: most chemotherapeutic agents are not able to pass through the blood-brain barrier to reach brain and spinal cord tumors, or do so only in very low and ineffective amounts.

Department Newsroom

Adolfo Ferrando Awarded the William Dameshek Prize for Outstanding Hematologic Research

Adolfo Ferrando, MD, PhD, a member of the Institute for Cancer Genetics (ICG) and the Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center (HICCC), has been awarded the William Dameshek Prize for his contributions in advancing acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) and T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (T-ALL) research.

HICCC News