Research

The division is nationally distinguished for its design and conduct of NIH-funded multi-center clinical trials involving childhood cancer, sickle cell disease, and hemorrhagic disorders. Faculty are actively involved in clinical research projects and laboratory research.

Oncology

Each Hematology-Oncology faculty physician participates in joint clinical research projects, particularly involving the Children’s Oncology Group (COG), for which Naomi Winick, MD, is the center’s Principal Investigator. All faculty members in the division are members of COG, an NIH-funded multi-institutional consortium of cancer research centers.

The division conducts a number of in-house therapeutic studies for children with cancer, including innovative research programs in acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) and Phase I and II trials for patients with advanced malignancies of various types. Other institutional research studies focus on genetic alterations in cancer, late effects in cancer survivors, and supportive care of children with cancer.

Hematology

Faculty and fellows are involved in numerous clinical studies involving hematology patients (sickle cell disease, hereditary spherocytosis, thrombosis, and immune thrombocytopenia (ITP)), and many are multi-center trials supported by the NIH. The program was funded by the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute (NHLBI) as one of 10 comprehensive sickle cell centers to participate in a clinical trials consortium, and Children’s Medical Center is currently one of a select group of children’s hospitals nationally involved in a Sickle Cell Disease Basic and Translational Research Program initiated in April 2008.

The division also is a member of the NHLBI-supported Transfusion Medicine-Hemostasis Clinical Trials Network, in which several of its faculty are involved in studies involving platelet transfusion dosing, ITP management, and hemophilia treatment.

In addition to these multi-center studies, more than a dozen local investigator-initiated research projects in hematology are in progress.

Laboratory Research

Laboratory research in the Division is conducted by two outstanding physician-scientists. The presence of these bench scientists on the Hematology-Oncology faculty has greatly enhanced the Division’s visibility, both locally and nationally.

  • James Amatruda, MD, PhD, trained in zebrafish genetics at Harvard with the world’s expert and has established a robust investigative program in this area at UT Southwestern.
  • Andrew Koh, MD, is both a pediatric oncologist and infectious diseases specialist who has focused both his clinical and research interests on infections in the immunocompromised host.

Clinical Research

The clinical research program in Hematology-Oncology has grown substantially during the past several years. The outstanding clinical research infrastructure within the Division – with separate components serving oncology and hematology – currently consists of 13 clinical research associates and three research nurses. All of these positions are based at Children’s, and most are funded through peer-reviewed NIH grants supporting patient-oriented investigation in childhood cancer, sickle cell disease, and hemostasis-thrombosis.

Further evidence of the robust clinical research environment within the program is the fact that six hematology-oncology faculty members have been among the NIH KL2 grant-supported Clinical Research Scholars at UT Southwestern, while two other Clinical Scholars who are formally appointed in other divisions have focused their research on pediatric sickle cell disease, with George Buchanan, MD, as their mentor. For seven consecutive years, fellows or junior faculty have been selected to attend the American Society of Hematology’s prestigious Clinical Research Training Institute (CRTI).

Research Funding

Total research support for UT Southwestern faculty members in Hematology-Oncology amounts to more than $3.4 million annually, primarily grants from National Cancer Institute (NCI) or NHLBI. In addition to the NIH-supporting agencies, funding from other organizations includes:

During 2009, three faculty members were Principal Investigators of R01 grants, one received a K23 award, and three were supported in part by an institutional KL2 award as part of UT Southwestern’s NIH-supported North and Central Texas Clinical and Translational Research Initiative. These are in addition to the numerous other grants and contracts from the NIH held by divisional faculty members.