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MATTEL CHILDREN’S HOSPITAL UCLA


DIVISION OF PEDIATRIC HEMATOLOGY-ONCOLOGY
DEPT. OF PEDIATRICS, DAVID GEFFEN SCHOOL OF MEDICINE

“UCLA has a wonderful group of physicians and staff that are here to care for the patients. It is a collegial environment and a mixture of excellence in both clinical care, and the research that facilitates future clinical care.”

— Rick Harrison, M.D., Medical Director, Mattel Children’s Hospital UCLA


Mattel Children’s Hospital UCLA is the highest ranked children’s hospital in Southern California, and is a vital part of the UCLA Medical Center, which has been ranked “Best in the West” year after year in the U.S. News & World Report “America’s Best Hospitals” survey. In 2008 Mattel Children’s Hospital UCLA moved into the new, state-of-the-art facilities of the Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center, becoming the most modern medical facility in the world. There its young patients are treated in a comfortable, convenient and light-filled environment conducive to healing, where each patient room is ‘wired’ for instant conversion into an ICU and/or medical testing room if need be, and there are overnight accommodations for loved ones.

The Division of Pediatric Hematology-Oncology:

For over 40 years the Division of Pediatric Hematology-Oncology has been a pioneer in the treatment of childhood cancers, giving patients the best of care while also making significant contributions to improvements in the diagnosis and treatment of children with leukemia, aplastic anemia, solid tumors, blood diseases, and more. The Division has a long history of success in bringing hope to children with cancer through such programs as its Bone Marrow Transplant Unit, which has been in continuous operation since 1973. It was the first bone marrow transplant unit in California and one of the first in the U.S.

The Pediatric Hematology-Oncology Division is a component of the Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center, which is well known for its new and innovative ways of treatment.

Coming soon: The UCLA Daltrey/Townshend Teen & Young Adult Cancer Center

Inspired by and modeled after the successful Teenage Cancer Trust program in the United Kingdom, a center focused specifically on the teenage and young adult victims of cancer is currently under development at UCLA. It will be the first of its kind in the United States. In the US about 70,000 new cases of cancer are diagnosed annually in this age group, and while the survival rates for other age groups, both younger children and older adults, are increasing, in this age group the survival rates are consistently lower. Misdiagnosis (who expects a teenage athlete to have cancer?) and inconsistent care (no longer children but not yet adults) are the primary reasons.

Then, after the diagnosis there are the typical teenage 'growing pains', emotional issues and angst about school, college, appearance, etc. In this program pediatric oncologists and adult oncologists will work together to assure a smooth transition in meeting the patients' changing medical needs, and the patients - when hospitalized - will be with their peers in a community-like setting conducive to interacting with others facing the same issues.

The Center will be housed in a special section of the Santa Monica UCLA Medical Center. The target date for the Teen and Young Adult Center to be up and operating is not yet determined. The Nejat International Childhood Cancer Research Society enthusiastically supports its development.

A Team Approach to Treatment

With each new patient, a multi-disciplinary team is assembled, tailored to the patient’s diagnosis in order to individualize the treatment needed. This team is composed of doctors and nurses in various specialties, whose interaction serves to maximize the child’s chances for survival and minimize potential harms to the child’s growth and development from the toxic effects of radiation and chemotherapy. These dedicated members of the treatment team are constantly seeking new ways to improve survival rates and reduce complications in children undergoing bone marrow transplantation, chemotherapy and radiation therapy in all types of blood diseases and cancer. Their tireless efforts continue to improve the quality of life and care for children with cancer, now and in the future.

“Despite the successes of current therapy, childhood cancers will not disappear. We need to look toward the future and train doctors who will continue to advance the field of Pediatric Hematology-Oncology and seek to find new cures. The UCLA campus provides fantastic opportunities to collaborate with top scientists to further our understanding of childhood cancer. There are also many cancer researchers, including adult oncologists, neurosurgeons, and pathologists, on campus who are part of the Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center and also participate in translational research. The prospect of doing such creative and innovative research is so exciting, and I couldn’t imagine doing this type of research anywhere else.”

— Kathleen M. Sakamoto, M.D., Ph.D.,
Chief, Division of Pediatric Hematology/Oncology, Mattel Children’s Hospital UCLA, 2004-2011

Caring for Future Needs

The Division of Pediatric Hematology-Oncology does not sever its ties with a patient simply because he or she has become an adult and the disease has been cured or is in remission. In one of only a handful of such programs in the entire country, the Division has a follow-up program that is designed to maintain contact with former patients in order to anticipate and address the healthcare needs of long term survivors of childhood cancer.

Physician Training

The Division of Pediatric Hematology-Oncology has a growing and increasingly prominent training program, producing graduating fellows trained both in basic research and in clinical care who are recruited by leading universities and hospitals across the U. S. to fill faculty positions and engage in both teaching and productive research.

International Outreach

Over the years, the Division has regularly hosted visiting doctors and researchers from other countries who seek to learn the latest state-of-the-art treatment protocols for the treatment of children in their home countries.

In 2006, a physician from the Division was invited to address the Albanian Health Fund Annual Medical Symposium on advances in bone marrow transplantation, and to provide an assessment and make recommendations to the Albanian Ministry of Health in order to assist that nation in the development of a national transplant program.

In 2010, a physician from the Division was invited to address the annual National Pediatric Oncology Congress in Turkey, and also lectured on various topics at Turkey's leading medical schools and on bone marrow/stem cell transplantation to the Bone Marrow sub-committee of the Turkish Pediatric Oncology Group, a national organization of pediatric oncologists.

In recognition of the critical importance of sharing the latest diagnostic and therapeutic tools with other countries, the Division actively seeks additional resources to expand outreach that will facilitate collaborative clinical trials with foreign institutions and enable Division staff to conduct seminars and on-site visits to share their expertise worldwide.

Clinical Trials

The Division of Pediatric Hematology-Oncology is currently involved in more than 50 institutional and collaborative group clinical trials in pediatric oncology. These trials include bone marrow transplant protocols, cancer vaccine trials, and participation in the Children’s Oncology Group, Pediatric Blood & Marrow Transplant Consortium, and SARC.

Leadership: Theodore B. Moore, M.D.

To his role as Division Chief, Dr. Moore brings a unique perspective on both the local and the global issues confronting pediatric hematologists/oncologists and the clinical care of their patients.. He has served as Clinical Director of Pediatric Hematology/Oncology concurrently with the role of Director of the Pediatric Blood and Marrow Transplant Program at UCLA. In addition to those responsibilities he tirelessly and generously advises and assists professionals in other countries in upgrading their programs.

He trained in Pediatric Hematology/Oncology at UCLA from 1992-1995, serving as a Clinical Instructor from 1994-thru 1996. He then took the position of Director of Pediatric Stem Cell Transplant at the Oregon Health and Science University in Portland, Oregon, building the Pediatric Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplant program there from its infancy.

He returned to UCLA in 2001, joining the UCLA School of Medicine faculty with his appointment in the Division of Pediatric Hematology/Oncology in the Department of Pediatrics. He is active in Clinical Research serving as the UCLA Principal Investigator for the Children's Oncology Group, the Pediatric Blood and Marrow Transplant Consortium, and the Pediatric Cancer Research Foundation Consortium. In addition he serves as the UCLA Site Director for the Glaser Pediatric Research Network.

His areas of research interest are in Pediatric Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplant, relapsed leukemia, and infections in the immunocompromised patient.

Dr. Moore currently serves on several committees within the hospital. He serves as Chair of Sub-Committee B of the medical school admissions committee, a member of the hospital cancer committee and is current President of the Department of Pediatrics Group Practice Plan.

His outside interest is international medicine and he is actively involved in international education and international relief efforts.