Barretos, Brazil

IIPAN Center & Collaborators

Hospital de Amor is the largest cancer center of Brazil, headquartered in the countryside of the state of São Paulo. It is a public institution that is largely supported by philanthropy.  The institution has several satellite units throughout the country thereby serving children and adolescents from all states of Brazil, often reaching the most hard-to-reach areas in the country. Hospital de Amor diagnoses about 350 new cases of childhood cancer each year. IIPAN is an integral partner in advancing collaborative nutritional research and care for the patients served.

IIPAN’s medical collaborators are Dr. Luiz Fernando Lopes, pediatric oncologist and medical director of Hospital de Amor, and Dr. Wilson Elias Oliveira Junior, a pediatric surgeon and nutrologist physician. The IIPAN nutritionist, Marina Murra, works alongside the hospital’s nutrition team, and Dr. Viani (ITACI), in leading nutritional research advancing our understanding of nutrition in children with cancer receiving care in a resource-limited setting, particularly in an ethnically-diverse Brazilian population.

Site Challenges

• Significant socioeconomic disparities, particularly among the indigenous population.
• Increasing prevalence of overweight/obesity.
• Little training in nutrition methodology and research.
• Lack of mentorship for nutritionists.

Site Needs

• Approaches to address food security and ethnic diversity as it relates to dietary behaviors.
• Clinical program development and advancing nutrition research.
• Effective nutritional approaches for families with extensive nutritional needs related to economic and education.

(Image Source: https://hospitaldeamor.com.br)