St. Jude Cancer Predisposition Symposium

Nickhill Bhakta, MD, MPH is an Associate Member in the Department of Global Pediatric Medicine at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. Within the St. Jude Global Program, Dr. Bhakta serves as the Regional Director of the Sub-Saharan Africa Program where he coordinates capacity building initiatives. Additionally, as Director of the Disease Burden and Simulation Unit, Dr. Bhakta runs an epidemiology and health economics research program focusing on global disease burden, multimorbidity research and cost-effectiveness. Core collaborations include steering programs with colleagues at the International Agency for Research on Cancer, the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation and the CONCORD Programme.  His other primary implementation roles at St. Jude include leading the SJCARES Global Hospital-Based Cancer Registry Network, co-Directing the ARIA Guide and Adapted Management Guideline initiative in collaboration with SIOP and leading the DIVIA initiative, a new effort to design innovative cost-beneficial next generation sequencing tools and platforms that expand access to comprehensive, accurate clinical diagnostics globally. 

Dr. Jaishri Blakeley is a clinician scientist with a clinical practice focused on the care of individuals with NF1, the schwannomatoses (NF2, SMARCB1, LZTR1 and others) and primary brain cancers. Her research expertise is in the development of clinical trials for nervous system tumors including tumor pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic investigations, imaging biomarkers for rare nervous system tumors and incorporation of patient focused, functional endpoints in efficacy studies. She is the Marjorie Bloomberg Tiven Professor of Neurofibromatosis in Neurology, Oncology and Neurosurgery at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Director of the Johns Hopkins Comprehensive Neurofibromatosis Center and Executive Director of the Neurofibromatosis Therapeutic Acceleration Program (NTAP).  NTAP aims to accelerate effective treatments for NF1-related plexiform and cutaneous neurofibromas and growing the NF1 field via deep collaborations across academia, industry, and government entities, open and timely sharing of results and streamlined approaches to support therapeutically focused research.  

Dr. Andrew Davidoff is a Full Member and Chairman of the Department of Surgery at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital and hold the St. Jude Endowed Chair in Surgical Research. He also has adjunct appointments in Surgery, Pediatrics and Pathology & Laboratory Medicine at the University of Tennessee School of Medicine. Davidoff joined the St. Jude faculty in 1997 after completing fellowship training in general and thoracic pediatric surgery at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. Prior to that he received his undergraduate degree from Dartmouth College, medical degree from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine and residency training in general surgery at Duke University Medical Center. His academic activities at St. Jude are focused primarily on clinical and translational investigation into the treatment of pediatric solid tumors, including neuroblastoma and Wilms tumor, in particular. Andrew has a significant interest and experience with the role of surgery and other modalities for local control as part of the multimodality approach to the treatment of these cancers. His specific research interests are in targeting altered epigenetic pathways for pediatric cancer therapy, anti-angiogenic cancer therapy and gene therapy for cancer and monogenetic disorders, particularly hemophilia.

Bonald Figueiredo, MD, PhD, received his medical degree from the University of Pernambuco (UFPE), Brazil (1982), Master of Science degree in Endocrinology (UFPE/1983), PhD from McGill University, Canada (1994), and Pos-Doctoral Fellowship at the Department of Pediatric Oncology, NIH (1997). He was an associate Professor at the Department of Pediatric Endocrinology at the Federal University of Paraná, Brazil (1995-2005). He is a Full Professor and coordinator of the PhD program in Pediatrics at Pequeno Principe College, Scientific Director and Founder of the Pelé Pequeno Principe Research Institute, and Director of the Pequeno Principe Hospital Biobank. He is the Founder and today co-Chair of the International Consortium on Pediatric Adrenocortical Carcinoma (icpact-gm.com).

Todd Gibson, PhD is an epidemiologist with broad expertise and interest in elucidating risk factors for subsequent cancers among cancer survivors, with a focus on the role of cancer treatments and genetic factors. B.S. in nutrition sciences from Cornell University, M.S. in molecular biology from Lehigh University, and a Ph.D. in epidemiology from Yale University. After receiving his Ph.D. in 2010, selected for the NCI Cancer Prevention Fellowship Program and completed a postdoctoral fellowship in the Radiation Epidemiology Branch (REB). In 2014, joined the faculty at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital as an assistant member, where he developed a research program elucidating risk factors for adverse late effects among survivors of childhood cancer. While at St. Jude, also served as the project director for the Childhood Cancer Survivor Study. In 2020, joined NCI as a staff scientist in the REB.  He is currently supporting the Pediatric Proton and Photon Therapy Comparison Cohort study and other studies of childhood and adult cancer survivors, including investigations of genetic susceptibility to treatment-related second cancers.

Catherine Goudie is a pediatric hematologist-oncologist and clinician-scientist working at the McGill University Health Centre since 2018. She completed a fellowship in pediatric cancer genetics and, recently, a Masters in Ethics focusing on the challenges of genomic information sharing. Catherine's clinical and research programs focus on screening approaches for cancer predisposition syndromes and cancer surveillance in children and young adults. 

Mary-Louise Greer is a staff radiologist and Co-Section Head of Body MRI at the Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids) in Toronto, Canada, and a Project Investigator at the SickKids Research Institute. She is a Professor of Medical Imaging at the University of Toronto where she is the Pediatric Imaging Division Lead. A Fellow of the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Radiologists and medical graduate of the University of Queensland (1989), Mary-Louise trained in radiology in Brisbane, Australia and at SickKids. She is a Past President of the Australian and New Zealand Society for Paediatric Radiology (2008-09), and current Chair of the Pediatric MRI Study Group of the International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine, also serving on the MRI Committee of the Society for Pediatric Radiology. Dr. Greer has published over 80 peer-reviewed papers. Her research interests include whole-body MRI for cancer screening and non-sedation practices in pediatric MRI. Day-to-day interactions with her patients, trainees, colleagues and friends, across disciplines and countries, are the best part of Mary-Louise’s job. 

Katianne Howard Sharp, PhD, is an Assistant Member in the Department of Psychology and Biobehavioral Sciences at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital (USA). She completed her doctorate in Clinical Psychology with a focus on children and families at The University of Memphis. She completed clinical internship at The University of Mississippi Medical Center Consortium and a research fellowship in pediatric psychology at Nationwide Children’s Hospital. Dr. Howard Sharp joined the Department of Psychology and Biobehavioral Sciences at St. Jude in 2018 as a Clinician-Scientist, with research and clinical interests in children’s genetic predisposition to cancer. 

Dr. Howard Sharp’s research is focused on parent and child adjustment and communication in the context of cancer predisposition identified during childhood. Specifically, her research seeks to understand how children and their parents understand and adapt to children’s genetic testing results and identification of underlying genetic risk.  Dr. Howard Sharp is currently supported by an American Cancer Society Clinician Scientist Development Grant to study parent-child communication about the child’s genetic cancer risk and identify barriers and facilitators of parent-child communication. Through this research Dr. Howard Sharp seeks to promote quality of life, surveillance adherence, and risk reducing health behavior change in children, adolescents and young adults with genetic risk for cancer; as well as develop interventions to support emotional wellbeing for the parents of children with genetic risk.

Othon Iliopoulos' laboratory is interested in the biology of tumor suppressor genes with particular emphasis on the von Hippel-Lindau tumor suppressor protein. This protein is a substrate receptor for the SCFVHL E3 ligase and induces tumor suppression, at least in part, by regulating the expression of hypoxia-inducible genes. A bona fide target of this complex is hypoxia-inducible factor HIF. He is currently exploring potential therapeutic implications of this known VHL-HIF interaction and, in addition, identifying novel substrates, which are ubiquitinated by the SCFVHL E3 ligase complex. At the clinical front, Iliopoulos is creating a multidisciplinary VHL/Familial Renal Carcinoma clinic, staffed with professional genetic counselors and operating under the auspices of the MGH Cancer Genetics Program. He plans to co-ordinate patient care and approach the current questions regarding VHL disease monitoring, chemoprevention and timely intervention on a protocol-based manner. He also hopes to enroll VHL patients in suitable treatment protocols.

Dr. Liza-Marie Johnson is an Associate Member (professor) in the Department of Oncology and the Director of the Bioethics Program at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. She is board-certified in pediatrics and pediatric hematology-oncology. Her academic work focuses on clinical and research ethics, particularly concerning pediatric populations. Dr. Johnson collaborates with patients and families to enhance patient-provider communication and improve the quality of the informed consent process, especially for novel or high-risk interventions, ensuring it meets their informational needs. Currently, she is developing an educational toolkit about treatment options for sickle cell disease, with an emphasis on gene therapy.

On a national level, Dr. Johnson serves as the bioethicist for two NIH Data Safety Monitoring Boards. She co-chairs the Bioethics Special Interest Group of the American Pediatric Association, is the immediate past chair of the Bioethics Committee for the Children’s Oncology Group, and chair-elect of the American Society of Clinical Oncology. Dr. Johnson is a member of the Pediatric Gene Therapy and Medical Ethics working group,  the steering committee of the Clinical Research Ethics Consultation Collaborative and she co-edits the research ethics case series in the American Journal of Bioethics. 

Dr. Alyssa Kennedy is a physician-scientist at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital and runs her own lab within the Center of Excellence for Leukemia Studies (CELS). Her research is focus on inherited bone marrow failure syndromes and leukemia predisposition.

Her lab integrates genomic profiling, functional modeling, and translational strategies to identify novel therapeutic targets and develop precision medicines. Her work aims not only to advance scientific understanding but to directly improve survival and quality of life for children and young adults with bone marrow failure and leukemia predisposition disorders.

Parvathy Krishnan is a Rare Disease Specialist and healthcare professional with a Master’s in Clinical Nutrition. Parvathy is an expert in Patient Advocacy and Patient caregiver education. She is a passionate Advocate for Patient - family-centered care with a special focus on genetic rare diseases for children with medically complex needs and caregivers. After both her children were diagnosed with multiple rare/ultra rare and nano-rare diseases, Parvathy has dedicated her life to empowering people worldwide to advocate for themselves no matter their location or diagnosis. In addition to her various professional roles Parvathy is dedicated to giving back by actively participating in local hospital boards, industry and community groups, ensuring quality patient/family engagement across various sectors. Parvathy is an accomplished leader with experience managing teams, building strategic partnerships, and breaking barriers in patient advocacy. Parvathy serves on national and international boards and working groups specializing in patient advocacy. She serves as an advisory board member of the UDN Foundation and Rare Diseases International. She also serves as the Executive Director for the Krishnan Family Foundation focused on research, scientific advancement, and patient/family support for CMMRD - a genetic cancer predisposition syndrome. Parvathy is the recipient of the 2023 Caregiver Champions Award from the Health Union’s Social Health Awards.

Elaine Mardis, PhD is co-Executive Director of the Steve and Cindy Rasmussen Institute for Genomic Medicine at Nationwide Children’s Hospital, holds the Rasmussen Nationwide Foundation Endowed Chair in Genomic Medicine and is a Professor of Pediatrics at The Ohio State University College of Medicine. Elaine is an internationally recognized expert in cancer genomics and immunogenomics, whose research interests lie in the clinical profiling of pediatric cancer DNA and RNA to identify somatic and germline contributors to cancer onset and to characterize the tumor immune microenvironment, with a focus on pediatric cancers and precision oncology.  Dr. Mardis is the former President of the American Association for Cancer Research, and is a member of the U.S. National Academy of Medicine.

Erin S. Murphy, MD is an Associate Professor in the department of radiation oncology at the Cleveland Clinic. She completed residency at the Cleveland Clinic and a fellowship in pediatric radiation oncology at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.  She specializes in radiotherapy and radiosurgery for brain tumors and pediatric tumors.

Dr. Nghiemphu is a Neuro-Oncologist with training in Neurology and is the Director of Neuro-Oncology Clinical Service and the Director of the Neuro-Oncology Fellowship Program. She is also the Clinical Director of the UCLA Neurofibromatosis and Schwannomatosis Program. She has a special interest in the treatment of patients with primary brain & nervous system tumors using individualized molecular targeted therapies. Her goal is to improve treatments for nervous system tumors that have rational molecular basis and advance quality of care for patients with these tumor diseases, especially young adult patients with genetic predisposition for tumors  and survivors of brain cancers.

Tuya Pal is a Professor of Medicine and an Ingram Professor of Cancer Research at the Vanderbilt University Medical Center, where she is also the Associate Director for Cancer Health Disparities at the Vanderbilt Ingram Cancer Center. Her research has focused on inherited cancer risks across basic and clinical services as well as health services delivery, including efforts in underserved populations. These include a focus on alternative models to streamline and scale up care delivery for individuals at-risk for inherited cancer across rural and urban settings; as well as refine and test interventions to improve follow-up care for those with inherited cancer across diverse populations, and healthcare settings. She is also the Vice Chair of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network Genetics/Familial Guidelines Committee for Breast, Ovarian and Pancreatic Cancer; as well as the Chair for the National Cancer Institute’s Cancer Genetics PDQ Editorial Board.

Melissa Perrino is an Assistant Member in the Department of Oncology, Division of Cancer Predisposition at St Jude Children’s Research Hospital. Her clinical interests lie in germline and tumor genomics, particularly as they relate to solid tumors and central nervous system malignancies. Building on the unique intersection of cancer genetics and solid tumor/neuro-oncology, she aims to better understand how germline and tumor genomic data influence diagnosis, prognosis, and treatment of childhood cancers. She has a clinical interest in neurofibromatosis type 1 and treating NF1-associated tumors with targeted therapy in addition to providing oncology care and tumor surveillance for many other cancer predisposition syndromes.

Dr. Perrino obtained her medical degree from Wright State University, followed by a pediatric residency at the University of Tennessee Heath Science Center and a fellowship in pediatric hematology-oncology at the Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center where she then joined as an Instructor at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center before joining St Jude Children’s Research Hospital in 2021.

Dr. Pugh is a cancer genomics researcher and a board-certified molecular geneticist. His research program is focused on understanding the clinical implications of clonal shifts in cancer and non-cancerous cell populations in tumours during treatment, most recently using cell-free DNA sequencing, single cell RNA-seq analysis, and immune repertoire profiling. He and his collaborators develop software tools and data analysis systems required to enable collaborative, clinically-oriented genome research.

Douglas Stewart, MD, received his medical degree and trained in internal medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. He then completed fellowship training in clinical genetics at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. Dr. Stewart has spent his career at the National Institutes of Health (NIH), first at the National Human Genome Research Institute and then at the National Cancer Institute, where he is a tenured Senior Investigator. In his research, Dr. Stewart quantifies the risk of cancer in children and adults from rare germline variation (“mutations”) and develops evidence-based strategies to reduce that risk. He sees patients at the NIH Clinical Center (the world’s largest research hospital), supervises projects, mentors scientists and clinicians, writes and edits manuscripts, attends and presents at conferences and does his share of administration (budget, regulatory affairs, committees, personnel). He is active with the American College of Medical Genetics, ClinGen, serves as a cancer editor for the journal Genetics in Medicine, and has been recognized for his mentoring. He has published over 150 peer-reviewed papers.

Dr. Uri Tabori is the head of the Neuro-Oncology program at the Hospital for Sick Children and a Garron Family Chair appointment in Childhood Cancer Research. Dr Tabori is a Professor in the Departments of Medical Biophysics, Institute of Medical Science and Paediatrics, University of Toronto. 

Based on his clinical background and expertise, his research focuses on translational aspects of cancer originating from patients need, through basic discoveries and clinical trials to changes in how society is managing specific cancers. Specifically, Dr Tabori focuses on the development of systems for early detection, intervention and therapeutics in children and young adults highly predisposed to developing brain tumors and the approach to low grade gliomas.  

Dr Tabori leads the international Replication Repair Deficiency consortium which is supporting patients and families in diagnosis, management and therapies in >50 countries. The consortium is running international clinical trials for children with hypermutant cancers with immune checkpoint inhibitors and combinations. Dr Tabori is also developing animal models and companion biomarker designed for immunotherapy therapeutics.

Dr Tabori also co-leads the pediatric low grade glioma taskforce which uncovers novel alterations in this most common brain tumor in children and offers targeted therapies and trials. He is responsible for the development of companion biomarkers to these trials. 

Dr. Tabori has been the recipient of numerous awards, including the Canadian Cancer Society’s Bernard and Francine Dorval Prize in 2016 and the Early Researcher Award from the Ontario Ministry of Development in Innovation in 2014.

Kenneth Tercyak, PhD is a tenured Professor in the Departments of Oncology and Pediatrics at the Georgetown University School of Medicine. At Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center, Dr. Tercyak directs the Interventions for Managing Parenting and Cancer Team (IMPACT) and serves as Co-Leader of the NCI-designated Cancer Prevention and Control research program. He is a member of the Fisher Center for Hereditary Cancer and Clinical Genomics Research, a Senior Scholar at the Georgetown University Thrive Center for Children, Families, and Communities, and teaching faculty member in the Department of Psychology at the College of Arts and Sciences.

Anita Villani is a Staff Oncologist at The Hospital for Sick Children and an Associate Professor in the Department of Paediatrics at the University of Toronto. She has a clinical and research interest in cancer genetics and predisposition, and in the translational implementation of genomic sequencing technologies into clinical oncology care. Anita is the Co-Director of the SickKids Precision Oncology Research Program (“KiCS”) and an active member of the Canadian national precision medicine program, PROFYLE. She is co-Principle Investigator of the Consortium for Childhood Cancer Predisposition (C3P) and of a multicentre, longitudinal registry study, the Childhood Cancer Predisposition Study (CCPS).  She is co-chair of the Pediatric Cancer Predisposition Working Group within the Children’s Oncology Group (COG).

Anita received her medical degree at the University of Ottawa. She completed both her Paediatric residency training and Haematology/Oncology fellowship at The Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto. She obtained her Master of Science degree in Genetics and Genome Biology through the Clinician Investigator Program and Institute of Medical Science at the University of Toronto.

Lu Wang, MD, PhD, FACMG, is an Associate Member Molecular Pathologist and the Medical Director of Molecular Pathology in the Department of Pathology at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital (SJCRH). Dr. Wang is a board-certified clinical molecular geneticist. She received her MD and PhD degrees in China and completed her post-graduate training at Weill Medical College of Cornell University and Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC) in New York City. Dr. Wang had been a faculty member in the Department of Pathology at MSKCC from 2010 to 2017 and joined the faculty at SJCRH in late 2017. Her clinical-translational research focuses on leukemia genomics/genetics and genomic profiling of rare tumors with an emphasis on clinical translation of potential diagnostic markers and therapeutic targets as well as clinical tests development. Dr. Wang’s lab-based research focuses on addressing further questions in molecular tumorigenesis of recurrent genetic aberrations identified by genome-wide molecular profiling in rare tumors, with a specific focus on functional characterization of oncogenic gene fusions. Dr. Wang also actively collaborate with researchers locally, nationally and internationally, providing molecular genetics/genomics expertise to clinical consultations and to a variety of research projects. Dr. Wang have authored 90+ peer-reviewed original research articles as well as ~20 other publications including cases reports, invited reviews and commentary and book chapters.

Zhaoming Wang is a Member of the Faculty at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital (SJCRH), with a primary appointment in the Department of Epidemiology and Cancer Control and a secondary appointment in the Department of Computational Biology. His expertise is molecular epidemiology with research focusing on three areas: 1) Genetic epidemiology of cancers (both subsequent malignant neoplasms in long-term survivors and primary childhood malignancies); 2) Biomarkers of aging; and 3) Omics-based preventive medicine. The central goal of his research program is to define the mechanistic understanding of the pathophysiology of adverse late-effects among survivors by integrating clinical and health outcome data with high-dimensional molecular data (e.g., genome, methylome, transcriptome and metabolome). Wang's current and recently completed research efforts included his role as a Principal Investigator on large grants funded by the V-Foundation for Cancer Research and the National Cancer Institute. Zhaoming has a total of 220+ peer-reviewed publications including those on Journal of Clinical Oncology, JAMA Oncology and Lancet Oncology, and Nature Reviews Cancer, with 40,000+ citations (Google Scholar H-Index of 88). Internal to SJCRH, he serves as a Co-Chair of the Genetics and Genomics Working Group of the Cancer Control and Survivorship Program, as a member of the Data Access Committee for St. Jude Lifetime Cohort (SJLIFE) and the Childhood Cancer Survivors Study (CCSS), and as a member of Biorepository Oversight Committee. Outside of SJCRH, Wang is a member of Testicular Cancer Consortium at the University of Pennsylvania, a standing member of the American Cancer Society (ACS) Cancer Detection and Progression (CDP) Review Committee, and a member of the American Association of Cancer Research (AACR) Aging and Cancer Task Force.

Matthew W. Wilson, MD, FACS is Professor and Chair of Ophthalmology at the University of Tennessee Health Sciences Center in Memphis, TN and Director of the Hamilton Eye Institute.  Dr Wilson holds the Barrett G Haik Endowed Chair as well as the St Jude Children’s Research Hospital Endowed Chair in Pediatric Ophthalmology. Dr. Wilson is a native of Atlanta, Ga and completed his medical degree, residency, and ophthalmic pathology fellowship at Emory University. He completed additional fellowship training in ocular oncology at St Bartholomew’s Hospital and Moorfields Eye Hospital in London, England and ophthalmic plastics and reconstructive surgery at Casey Eye Institute/ Oregon Health Science University. Dr Wilson is an active clinical and translational researcher. He has published over 150 peer reviewed manuscripts. He is the Director of the St Jude Global Retinoblastoma Program. He has helped build retinoblastoma centers of excellence in Central America, Middle East and Southeast Asia. He has trained numerous fellows in both ocular oncology and oculoplastics.  He serves on the Board of Trustees  for both the Association in Research in Vision and Ophthalmology and at his undergraduate Alma Mater Furman University.