• UPMC Children’s Hem/Onc Researcher, Jessica Daley, MD, Receives ALSF Young Investigator Grant. Dr. Daley's research investigates the mechanisms and treatment approaches for Ewing Sarcoma.

• UPMC Children’s Hematology/Oncology Team Publishes Findings on Febrile Neutropenia and Risk for Readmission. The study from the Division of Pediatric Hematology/Oncology at UPMC Children’s was led by Meghan McCormick, MD, MS.

• UPMC Children’s Pediatric Hem/Onc Researcher Lisa Maurer, MD, PhD, Receives NIH K08 Grant. Read additional details about Dr. Maurer’s K08 grant.

• Kelly M. Bailey MD, PhD, coauthored a “State-of-the-Art” review in Pediatrics on “Innovations in Cancer Treatment of Children.”

• UPMC and Pitt Researchers Identify Link Between Cancer-Causing Gene and Aging. The research, led by Dr. Edward V. Prochownik, the Paul C. Gaffney Professor of Pediatrics in the Division of Hematology/Oncology at UPMC Children’s and professor in the Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics, has implications for newer forms of cancer therapy.

• Treating Ewing Sarcoma When Underlying Liver Disease Is Present. UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh Division of Pediatric Hematology/Oncology faculty members published details from a recent case in which a patient with progressive familial intrahepatic cholestasis type 1 was diagnosed with localized, early-stage Ewing sarcoma and successfully treated with a modified plan of chemotherapeutic agents.

• Rethinking Genetic Testing Guidelines: Study Reveals Significant Prevalence of Cancer. Predisposition Syndromes in Pediatric Leukemia Patients. Julia Meade, MD, assistant professor of Pediatrics and Human Genetics was the senior author of the study.

• New Grant for Metastatic Ewing Sarcoma Research Awarded to Kelly M. Bailey, MD, PhD. Dr. Bailey’s research hypothesizes that galectin-3 (Gal3) acts as an immunoinhibitory factor in Ewing sarcoma.

• High Dose of Metformin Decreases Susceptibility to Occlusive Arterial Thrombosis in Diabetic Mice. Alvidrez RIM, Annarapu GK, Srinivasan AJ, Liu Z, Yazdani HO, Nolfi-Donegan D, Simmons RL, Shiva S, Neal MD. J Pharm Pharmacol Res. 2023;7(4):192-202.

• A Pathogenic Germline BRCA1 Variant in a Patient With Cellular Congenital Mesoblastic Nephroma: A Case Report. Dholakia G, Meade J. Cureus. 2023 Aug 21;15(8):e43857.

• Capturing the young child's reports of cancer treatment tolerability: Does our practice reflect an assumption that they cannot report? Reeve BB, Hernandez A, Freyer DR, Linder LA, Embry L, Leahy AB, Baker JN, Mack JW, McFatrich M, Henke DM, Mowbray C, Jacobs SS, Maurer SH, Gold SH, Hinds PS. Pediatr Blood Cancer. 2023 Jan;70(1):e30028.

• Longitudinal use of patient reported outcomes in pediatric leukemia and lymphoma reveals clinically relevant symptomatic adverse events. Jacobs SS, Withycombe JS, Castellino SM, Lin L, Mack JW, McFatrich M, Baker JN, Freyer DR, Maurer SH, Mowbray C, Hinds PS, Reeve BB. Pediatr Blood Cancer. 2022 Dec;69(12):e29986.

• Profiles of Symptom Suffering and Functioning in Children and Adolescents Receiving Chemotherapy. Cheng L, Reeve BB, Withycombe JS, Jacobs SS, Mack JW, Weaver M, Mann CM, Waldron MK, Maurer SH, Baker JN, Wang J, Hinds PS. Cancer Nurs. 2023 Mar-Apr 01;46(2):E129-E137.

• The Myc-Like Mlx Network Impacts Aging and Metabolism. Wang H, Stevens T, Lu J, Roberts A, Land CV, Muzumdar R, Gong Z, Vockley J, Prochownik EV. bioRxiv. 2023 Nov 27:2023.11.26.568749

• Cholesterol esterification and p53-mediated tumor suppression. Li Y, Karin M, Prochownik EV. Explor Target Antitumor Ther. 2023;4(5):1122-1127.

• A Novel Transgenic Mouse Model Implicates Sirt2 as a Promoter of Hepatocellular Carcinoma. Schmidt AV, Monga SP, Prochownik EV, Goetzman ES. Int J Mol Sci. 2023 Aug 9;24(16):12618.

• Lessons in aging from Myc knockout mouse models. Prochownik EV, Wang H. Front Cell Dev Biol. 2023 Aug 9;11:1244321.d

• Prospective External Validation of the Esbenshade Vanderbilt Models Accurately Predicts Bloodstream Infection Risk in Febrile Non-Neutropenic Children With Cancer. Zhao Z, Patel PA, Slatnick L, Sitthi-Amorn A, Bielamowicz KJ, Nunez FA, Walsh AM, Hess J, Rossoff J, Elgarten C, Myers R, Saab R, Basbous M, Mccormick M, Aftandilian C, Richards R, Nessle CN, Tribble AC, Sheth Bhutada JK, Coven SL, Runco D, Wilkes J, Gurunathan A, Guinipero T, Belsky JA, Lee K, Wong V, Malhotra M, Armstrong A, Jerkins LP, Cross SJ, Fisher L, Stein MT, Wu NL, Yi T, Orgel E, Haeusler GM, Wolf J, Demedis JM, Miller TP, Esbenshade AJ. J Clin Oncol. 2023 Dec 7:JCO2301814.

• Abnormal Global Longitudinal Strain During Anthracycline Treatment Predicts Future Cardiotoxicity in Children. Gunsaulus M, Alsaied T, Tersak JM, Friehling E, Rose-Felker K. Pediatr Cardiol. 2023 Aug 22.

• Multicenter study of pediatric Epstein-Barr virus-negative monomorphic post solid organ transplant lymphoproliferative disorders. Afify ZAM, Taj MM, Orjuela-Grimm M, Srivatsa K, Miller TP, Edington HJ, Dalal M, Robles J, Ford JB, Ehrhardt MJ, Ureda TJ, Rubinstein JD, McCormack S, Rivers JM, Chisholm KM, Kavanaugh MK, Bukowinski AJ, Friehling ED, Ford MC, Reddy SN, Marks LJ, Smith CM, Mason CC. Cancer. 2023 Mar 1;129(5):780-78

• The Effect of an Adapted Digital Mental Health Intervention for Sickle Cell Disease on Engagement: A Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial. Parchuri E, Nardo E, O'Brien J, Crosby L, Porter J, Palermo T, Nikolajski CE, Treadwell M, Hillery C, Szigethy E, Jonassaint C. Res Sq. 2023 Jun 28:rs.3.rs-3073103.

• Rare Tumors: Opportunities and challenges from the Children's Oncology Group perspective. Schultz KAP, Chintagumpala M, Piao J, Chen KS, Shah R, Gartrell RD, Christison-Lagay E, Pashnakar F, Berry JL, O'Neill AF, Vasta LM, Flynn A, Mitchell SG, Seynnaeve BK, Rosenblum J, Potter SL, Kamihara J, Rodriguez-Galindo C, Hawkins DS, Laetsch TW. EJC Pediatr Oncol. 2023 Dec;2:100024.

• UPMC Children’s Hem/Onc Specialist Erika Friehling, MD, Joins AAMC Mid-Career Women Faculty Leadership Development Seminar. Dr. Friehling serves as the fellowship program director for the Division, as well as being senior associate vice chair of Faculty Development and co-Director of the Office of Faculty Development, both in the Department of Pediatrics at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine.

• A. Kim Ritchey received the 2023 Distinguished Career Award from the American Society of Pediatric Hematology/Oncology.

• Qin Wins First Place Poster At UPMC Hillman Cancer Center Retreat. Pitt Pediatrics congratulates Mengtao Qin for her first-place poster award for Translational Science from the UPMC Hillman Cancer Center 2023 Annual Scientific Retreat. Her project, alongside the Byersdorfer Lab, was titled “AMPKγ2 Overexpression Protects CD19-CAR T Cells From Metabolic Insults”.

• That’s Pediatrics Podcast: Understanding Full-Service Supportive and Palliative Care Medicine with Dr. Justin Yu and Dr. Scott Maurer.

• That’s Pediatrics Podcast: From the Lab to the OR: Improving Imaging for Pediatric Cancer Surgery with Dr. Marcus Malek. Our hosts talk about the technology gap in the operating room that inspired Dr. Malek’s research to improve cancer surgery imaging.

• Jenny Ruiz, MD, MSCE, joined the division as an assistant professor of Pediatrics.

• UPMC Children’s Division of Pediatric Hematology Oncology ASPHO 2023 News and Participation

World-Class Palliative Care for Every Child and Family, at Every Stage of Life. The new Division of Palliative Medicine and Supportive Care at UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh aims to build a future where there are no barriers to this life-changing care.