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Nickhill Bhakta, MD, MPH
Nickhill Bhakta, MD, MPH

Nickhill Bhakta, MD, MPH

Associate Member, St. Jude Faculty

  • Director, Sub-Saharan Africa Region, St. Jude Global

Departments

Education

AB - Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island
MD
 - University of Cincinnati, Ohio
MPH - Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts
Internship and Residency - Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California
Fellowship - St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, Memphis, Tennessee

Honors & Awards

  • 2018-2021  St. Baldrick’s Scholar (Morgan and Friends Hero Fund), St. Baldrick’s Foundation
  • 2016  Bradley Stuart Beller Merit Award, Conquer Cancer Foundation
  • 2015-2017  St. Baldrick’s Fellow (Morgan and Friends Hero Fund), St. Baldrick’s Foundation
  • 2013  Victor E. Stork Excellence and Future Promise in Pediatrics Award, Children’s Hospital, Los Angeles
  • 2013  Laura E. Mabie Resident Teaching Award, Children’s Hospital, Los Angeles

Research Interests

  • Disease burden estimation, decision analysis, global epidemiology of childhood cancer
  • Prioritization and the cost-effectiveness of childhood cancer treatment in low and middle income countries
  • Pediatric leukemia, cancer survivorship

Selected Publications

Agulnik A, Antillon-Klussmann F, Soberanis Vasquez DJ, Arango R, Moran E, Lopez V, Rodriguez-Galindo C, Bhakta N. Cost-benefit analysis of implementing a pediatric early warning system at a pediatric oncology hospital in a low-middle income country. Cancer Aug 22, 2019. doi: 10.1002/cncr.32436. [Epub ahead of print] PubMed PMID: 31436324.

The global burden of childhood and adolescent cancer in 2017: an analysis of the Global Burden of Disease Study 2017. Lancet Oncol Jul 29, 2019. doi: 10.1016/S1470-2045(19)30339-0. [Epub ahead of print] PubMed PMID: 31371206.

Ward ZJ, Yeh JM, Bhakta N, Frazier AL, Girardi F, Atun R. Global childhood cancer survival estimates and priority-setting: a simulation-based analysis. Lancet Oncol  Jul;20(7):972-983, 2019. doi: 10.1016/S1470-2045(19)30273-6. Epub May 22, 2019. PubMed PMID: 31129029.

Ward ZJ, Yeh JM, Bhakta N, Frazier AL, Atun R. Estimating the total incidence of global childhood cancer: a simulation-based analysis. Lancet Oncol Apr;20(4):483-493, 2019. doi: 10.1016/S1470-2045(18)30909-4. Epub Feb 26,  2019. PubMed PMID: 30824204.

Bhakta N, Force LM, Allemani C, Atun R, Bray F, Coleman MP, Steliarova-Foucher E, Frazier AL, Robison LL, Rodriguez-Galindo C, Fitzmaurice C. Childhood cancer burden: a review of global estimates. Lancet Oncol Jan;20(1):e42-e53, 2019. doi: 10.1016/S1470-2045(18)30761-7. Review. PubMed PMID: 30614477.

Cohen P, Friedrich P, Lam C, Jeha S, Metzger ML, Qaddoumi I, Naidu P, Faughnan L, Rodriguez-Galindo C, Bhakta N. Global Access to Essential Medicines for Childhood Cancer: A Cross-Sectional Survey. J Glob Oncol Dec;4:1-11, 2018. doi: 10.1200/JGO.18.00150. PubMed PMID: 30582430.

Renner L, Shah S, Bhakta N, Denburg A, Horton S, Gupta S. Evidence From Ghana Indicates That Childhood Cancer Treatment in Sub-Saharan Africa Is Very Cost Effective: A Report From the Childhood Cancer 2030 Network. J Glob Oncol Sep;4:1-9, 2018. doi: 10.1200/JGO.17.00243. PubMed PMID: 30241273; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC6223505.

Flerlage JE, Metzger ML, Bhakta N. The management of Hodgkin lymphoma in adolescents and young adults: burden of disease or burden of choice? Blood Jul 26;132(4):376-384, 2018. doi: 10.1182/blood-2018-01-778548. Epub Jun 12, 2018. Review. PubMed PMID: 29895665; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC6071556.

Pui CH, Yang JJ, Bhakta N, Rodriguez-Galindo C. Global efforts toward the cure of childhood acute lymphoblastic leukaemia. Lancet Child Adolesc Health Jun;2(6):440-454, 2018. doi: 10.1016/S2352-4642(18)30066-X. Epub Mar 30, 2018. Review. PubMed PMID: 30169285; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC6467529.

Fuentes-Alabi S, Bhakta N, Vasquez RF, Gupta S, Horton SE. The cost and cost-effectiveness of childhood cancer treatment in El Salvador, Central America: A report from the Childhood Cancer 2030 Network. Cancer Jan 15;124(2):391-397, 2018. doi: 10.1002/cncr.31022. Epub Sep 15, 2017. PubMed PMID: 28915337; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC5894342.

Bhakta N, Liu Q, Ness KK, Baassiri M, Eissa H, Yeo F, Chemaitilly W, Ehrhardt MJ, Bass J, Bishop MW, Shelton K, Lu L, Huang S, Li Z, Caron E, Lanctot J, Howell C, Folse T, Joshi V, Green DM, Mulrooney DA, Armstrong GT, Krull KR, Brinkman TM, Khan RB, Srivastava DK, Hudson MM, Yasui Y, Robison LL. The cumulative burden of surviving childhood cancer: an initial report from the St Jude Lifetime Cohort Study (SJLIFE). Lancet Dec 9;390(10112):2569-2582, 2017. doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(17)31610-0. Epub Sep 8, 2017. PubMed PMID: 28890157; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC5798235.

Hudson MM, Ehrhardt MJ, Bhakta N, Baassiri M, Eissa H, Chemaitilly W, Green DM, Mulrooney DA, Armstrong GT, Brinkman TM, Klosky JL, Krull KR, Sabin ND, Wilson CL, Huang IC, Bass JK, Hale K, Kaste S, Khan RB, Srivastava DK, Yasui Y, Joshi VM, Srinivasan S, Stokes D, Hoehn ME, Wilson M, Ness KK, Robison LL. Approach for Classification and Severity Grading of Long-term and Late-Onset Health Events among Childhood Cancer Survivors in the St. Jude Lifetime Cohort. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev May;26(5):666-674, 2017. doi: 10.1158/1055-9965.EPI-16-0812. Epub Dec 29, 2016. Review. PubMed PMID: 28035022; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC5413397.

Bhakta N, Liu Q, Yeo F, Baassiri M, Ehrhardt MJ, Srivastava DK, Metzger ML, Krasin MJ, Ness KK, Hudson MM, Yasui Y, Robison LL. Cumulative burden of cardiovascular morbidity in paediatric, adolescent, and young adult survivors of Hodgkin's lymphoma: an analysis from the St Jude Lifetime Cohort Study. Lancet Oncol  Sep;17(9):1325-34, 2016. doi: 10.1016/S1470-2045(16)30215-7. Epub Jul 25, 2016. PubMed PMID: 27470081; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC5029267.

Bhakta N, Martiniuk AL, Gupta S, Howard SC. The cost effectiveness of treating paediatric cancer in low-income and middle-income countries: a case-study approach using acute lymphocytic leukaemia in Brazil and Burkitt lymphoma in Malawi. Arch Dis Child Feb;98(2):155-60, 2013. doi: 10.1136/archdischild-2011-301419. Epub Nov 30, 2012. PubMed PMID: 23201550.

Last update: September 2019

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