IRONMATT MEDICAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE
Chair: Jonathan Finlay, MD
Director of Neuro-Oncology
Nationwide Children's Hospital
Jonathan L. Finlay, MB, ChB, FRCP is the Program Director of Neuro-Oncology at Nationwide Children’s Hospital. Dr. Finlay is a tenured Professor of Pediatrics at The Ohio State University College of Medicine. He is an internationally recognized expert in pediatric brain tumors and has authored or co-authored over 200 peer-reviewed publications in leading medical journals and over 80 review articles and book chapters. Prior to coming to Nationwide Children’s, Dr. Finlay was the Director of the Neural Tumors Program at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles and served as Professor of Pediatrics, Neurology & Neurological Surgery at the Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California. Between 1982 and 2003, he held faculty positions in Pediatric Oncology at Stanford University (1980-1982), University of Wisconsin-Madison (1982-1987), University of Pennsylvania (1987-1989), Cornell University/Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center (1989-1993) and New York University (1997-2003).
Ranjit S. Bindra, MD, PhD
AP of Therapeutic Radiology and Experimental Pathology
Yale University
Pediatric Neurosurgery
Columbia University
Doctor Neil A. Feldstein attended medical school at New York University, and then went on to complete his residency training at the Baylor School of Medicine, followed by his fellowship training at the New York University School of Medicine. Dr. Feldstein has been the director of the Division of Pediatric Neurological Surgery at the New York – Presbyterian Hospital since 1994. Under his directorship the division has grown to three full time pediatric neurological surgeons who cover all aspects of pediatric neurological surgery. Among his interests and expertise is a national reputation in the management of Chiari Malformations and SpinaDysraphism. He has an active practice in such subspecialty areas as brain and spinal cord tumors, craniofacial abnormalities, and vascular malformations such as Moyamoya, AVMs and cavernous malformations. In an effort to decrease operative time and morbidity as well as hospital stay Dr. Feldstein has begun to utilize endoscopic assistance to perform common procedures through smaller incisions. This is currently seen in the management of craniosynostosis, chiari malformations and in certain forms of hydrocephalus.
Pediatric Hematology-Oncology
Columbia University
Dr. James H. Garvin completed medical school at Thomas Jefferson University Medical College; he then went on to do both his internship and residency at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, followed by his fellowship at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Massachusetts. Dr. Garvin has numerous areas of expertise, including: Neuro-Oncology, Chemotherapy, Anemia, Iron Deficiency, Leukemia, Bone Marrow Transplant, and Pediatric Brain Tumors.
Neuro-Oncology
Children's Memorial Hospital, Chicago
Stewart Goldman, MD, is the head of the Division of Hematology, Oncology and Stem Cell Transplantation at the Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago. The Meryl Suzanne Weiss Distinguished Professor in the Department of Pediatrics at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. Goldman is the medical director of Neuro-Oncology at Lurie Children's and focuses his clinical practice and research activities at Lurie Children's Falk Brain Tumor Center on pediatric brain tumors. He serves as the Chicago principal investigator for the Pediatric Brain Tumor Consortium as well as the Children's Oncology Group's Developmental Therapeutics Consortium site at Lurie Children's.As director of the Clinical Trials Research Center at the Stanley Manne Children's Research Institute, Goldman is involved in developing and teaching new treatments for brain tumors. He has a special interest in developing new therapies for the treatment of brain stem gliomas and brain tumor survivorship issues.
Cynthia Hawkins, MD, PhD
The Hospital for Sick Children/Research Institute
University of Toronto
Dr. Cynthia Hawkins obtained her PhD in 1996 and her MD in 1997 from the University of Western Ontario. She completed her residency training in neuropathology at the University of Toronto in 2002, including a post-doctoral fellowship at the University of Zurich. Dr. Hawkins joined The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids) as a neuropathologist in 2002. She is a Senior Scientist at the SickKids Research Institute and a Professor of Laboratory Medicine and Pathobiology at The University of Toronto. Dr. Hawkins’ clinical practice includes both surgical and autopsy pediatric neuropathology. She is best known for her expertise in pediatric brain tumours and has a research lab devoted to pediatric astrocytoma. Her research interests include molecular pathogenesis and therapeutics for paediatric glioma and clinical implementation of novel diagnostic, prognostic and therapeutic markers for paediatric brain tumours. The Hawkins laboratory has published seminal work regarding genetic characterization of diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma (DIPG) as well the clinical implications of mutant histones in pediatric astrocytoma.
Pediatric Neuro-Oncology
Memorial Sloan-Kettering
Dr. Matthias Karajannis is a pediatric neuro-oncologist who has cared for children with brain tumors, spinal cord tumors, and neurofibromatosis for 11 years. As Chief of the Pediatric Neuro-Oncology Service at Memorial Sloan Kettering, he leads one of the busiest programs in the country. His team is committed to young patients with brain tumors and driven to accelerate progress in the way we diagnose and care for them. Dr. Karajannis is an NCI-funded clinical investigator, and serves in leadership roles within the Children’s Oncology Group and NF Clinical Trials Consortium.
Michelle Monje, MD, PhD
Neurology and Neuro-Oncology
Stanford University
Michelle Monje, MD, PhD joined the faculty at Stanford University in 2011 as an Assistant Professor of Neurology and Neuro-Oncology. Following her undergraduate degree in biology at Vassar College, Dr. Monje received her MD and PhD in Neuroscience from Stanford University. She then completed neurology residency at the Massachusetts General Hospital/Brigham and Women's Hospital/Harvard Medical School program. She subsequently returned to Stanford for a clinical fellowship in pediatric neuro-oncology and a postdoctoral fellowship. The scope of her research program encompasses the molecular determinants of neural precursor cell fate, neuronal-glial interactions, and the role of neural precursor cells in oncogenesis and repair mechanisms. As a practicing neurologist and neuro-oncologist, Dr Monje is dedicated to understanding the neurodevelopmental origins of pediatric brain tumors and the neurological consequences of cancer treatment.
Principal Investigator, Ben Towne Center for Childhood Cancer Research
Seattle Children's
Dr. Courtney Crane is a principal investigator at the Ben Towne Center and an assistant professor at the University of Washington School of Medicine. Her lab is unraveling how cancer cells disarm immune cells, with the goal of finding ways to reprogram those immune cells so they can elude cancer's defenses. Crane received her PhD from the University of Virginia and completed a research fellowship in the department of neurosurgery at the University of California, San Francisco.
Pediatric Neurosurgery
Weill Cornell Medical College
Dr. Mark M. Souweidane completed his undergraduate studies at the University of Michigan, he then went on to attend Wayne State University Medical School. His general surgery internship was completed at University of Michigan Hospitals and he subsequently did his neurosurgery residency at New York University, followed by his clinical fellowship for pediatric neurosurgery at the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto. Dr. Souweidane has dedicated his career to the surgical treatment of children with brain and spinal disorders. He has gained international acclaim in minimally invasive endoscopic neurosurgery for the treatment of hydrocephalus, intraventricular brain tumors, colloid cysts, and congenital cysts. His other areas of expertise include brain and spinal cord tumors of childhood, Chiari malformations, congenital spinal disorders, arachnoid cysts, and pediatric vascular disorders. He is the principal investigator of a laboratory that is partly funded by the Pediatric Brain Tumor Foundation. Dr. Souweidane’s laboratory focuses on improving the outcome of children with brain tumors by studying experimental local delivery and brain tumor modeling.
New York Presbyterian/MSCHONY
Pediatric Oncology Nurse Practitioner at the Herbert Irving Pediatric Oncology Center at Children's Hospital of NY
Columbia University
Since 2005 I have been the Pediatric Neuro- Oncology Nurse Practitioner in the Division of Pediatric Hematology, Oncology and Stem Cell Transplant at the Children’s Hospital of New York Presbyterian, Columbia University. We provide comprehensive care and support for children with brain and spinal cord tumors, supporting the journey from aggressive lifesaving treatment to palliative and end of life care. Primary research interest is on how nutrition affects therapies and outcomes of children with brain tumors. Other areas of interest include complementary/alternative medicine in pediatric oncology including nutrition, supplements, massage, acupuncture, essential oils and aroma therapy.
Christopher Tinkle, MD, PhD
Radiation Oncology
St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital
My overall aim as a pediatric radiation oncologist is to improve the outcomes and reduce the treatment associated morbidity of children and adolescents with cancer. To this end, my research interests are focused on the application of our advancing molecular understanding of cancer initiation, progression and treatment resistance, as well as the susceptibility to therapy related toxicity to better inform clinical trial development, risk stratification and cancer therapy application. Specific research interests include brain tumors and sarcomas.
Radiation Oncology
Memorial Sloan-Kettering
Since completing her medical training at the University of California, San Francisco and Stanford University in 1998, Dr. Suzanne Wolden has served as the primary pediatric radiation oncologist at the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York, NY. Children with tumors of the brain and spine make up a large portion her clinical practice. Dr. Wolden’s research has focused on ways to manipulate radiotherapy to maximize the therapeutic ratio between tumor control and toxicity. Specifically, her studies have defined new targeting strategies for brain tumors such as medulloblastoma and intracranial germ cell tumors. She is especially dedicated to improving treatment for rare tumors such as choroid plexus carcinoma due to her inspiring interactions with courageous children like Matthew Larson.