Collaborations signal hope for children with brain tumors
A pediatric neurosurgeon removes as much of a brain tumor as possible. The pediatric neuro-oncologist then devises the best treatment plan to eradicate the remaining cancerous cells. The cancer biology and epigenomics researcher collaborates with both specialists to translate the latest discoveries in the laboratory into safer and more effective therapies to treat children with the devastating diagnosis of a brain tumor.
This three-pronged approach is employed within the Falk Brain Tumor Center at Children’s Memorial Hospital through the efforts of Tadanori Tomita, MD, head of the Division of Neurosurgery at Children’s Memorial, Stewart Goldman, MD, Medical Director of Neuro-Oncology and Marcelo Bento Soares, PhD, director of the Cancer Biology and Epigenomics Program at Children’s Memorial Research Center. Their collaboration has the potential to not only cure children, but also to reduce long-term effects resulting from childhood treatments. It is one of many advantages of a medical center where physicians and researchers embrace opportunitiesto work together.
"The Falk Brain Tumor Center has a very progressive group of researchers and physicians," says Tomita, medical director of the center and the Yeager Professor of Pediatric Neurosurgery. "We are a very tight-knit group with no barriers to sharing information."
"One of the reasons I joined Children’s Memorial was the opportunity to work with physicians like Dr. Goldman and Dr. Tomita," says Soares, who is also the scientific director of the hospital’s brain tumor center and the Rachelle and Mark Gordon Professor in Cancer Biology and Epigenomics. "We are interested in projects where there is a practical application for patients as well as an intriguing, fundamental question to be explored."