Since its launch in 1992, the pediatric stem cell transplant program has performed more than 800 stem cell transplants — autologous, allogeneic (related and unrelated), and umbilical cord blood (related and unrelated), treating a variety of disorders, including cancers, blood disorders, immune deficiencies, and metabollic disorders. Program features include the Chronic Graft vs. Host Disease program, delivering comprehensive, multi-disciplinary care to patients with this complication after allogeneic stem cell transplantation. Also included is the STAR (Survivor's Taking Action & Responsibility) Program, which focuses on long-term survivor care and provides patients a seamless transition from pediatric to adult long-term survivor transplant care. It also offers one of the nation's largest pediatric outpatient stem cell transplant programs. The stem cell transplant program is a component of the Siragusa Transplantation Center at Children's Memorial Hospital.
As the first freestanding pediatric program to achieve accreditation from the Foundation for the Accreditation of Cellular Therapy (FACT), the program is nationally recognized for its quality, excellence of outcomes and multidisciplinary approach to care, research and laboratory expertise. It is also accredited with the National Marrow Donor Program (NMDP) and provides data to the Center for International Blood and Marrow Transplant Research (CIBMTR). By working with widely recognized organizations that sponsor pediatric clinical trials, the treatment program at Children's Memorial is complemented and enhanced. Affiliations with the Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center of Northwestern University (a National Cancer Institute-designated comprehensive cancer center), the National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN), the Children's Oncology Group, and the Pediatric Blood and Marrow Transplant Consortium help make a difference for hundreds of patients each year.
Our pediatric stem cell transplant program has performed more than 800 stem cell transplants.
Heading our programs in hematology, oncology and stem cell transplant is Morris Kletzel, MD . As a professor at Northwestern University's Feinberg School of Medicine and an expert in neuroblastoma and stem cell transplantation, Dr. Kletzel and his pediatric-based research efforts have helped make this program one of the strongest in the United States today.
Laboratories
- Stem cell processing and graft engineering laboratory
- Immunogenetics and flow cytometry laboratory
- HLA laboratory
An important feature of our program is a laboratory facility at the cutting edge of processing stem cells, detecting potential tumor cell contamination of the graft, HLA typing and detection of engraftment by molecular techniques. Children's Memorial Hospital has its own state-of-the-art HLA laboratory capable of the most sophisticated detection of alleles via molecular sequencing.
All techniques utilized in the laboratory are FDA approved and the laboratory has gained certification by the American Association of Blood Banks (AABB) and the Joint Commission (JC).
Members of our technological staff are licensed by the Illinois Department of Professional Regulation, the International Society of Hematotherapy and Graft Engineering (ISHAGE), and the American Society of Clinical Pathology (ASCP).
To learn more about pediatric stem cell transplants, please email us at SiragusaTransplantWeb@childrensmemorial.org.*
* PLEASE NOTE: To protect your privacy, it is the policy of Children's Memorial Hospital to discourage the sending of protected health information via e-mail. For questions about possible referrals, please contact the nurses and other staff members at 1.800.KIDS DOC. (1.800.543.7362)