Haematology/Oncology
The Division of Haematology/Oncology is one of the largest divisions in the Department of Paediatrics at The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids). It provides a diagnostic service and specialist care for children under 18 years of age with cancer (paediatric oncology), non-malignant blood diseases (paediatric haematology) and blood and marrow stem-cell (haematopoietic) transplantation. The Division is the largest of its kind in Canada and among the largest in North America. The mission of the Division is to achieve and maintain excellence in the areas of clinical care, education and research.
Reflecting the size and diversity of its clinical services, the Division is functionally organized into six sections and three programs. There is the leukaemia/lymphoma section (Section Head, Dr. Sheila Weitzman), the neuro-oncology (brain tumour) section (Section Head, Dr. Eric Bouffet), the solid tumour section (Section Head, Dr. Ron Grant), the blood and marrow transplantation section (Section Head, Dr. John Doyle), the haematology section (Section Head, Dr. Victor Blanchette), the inpatient services section (Section Head, Dr. Sarah Alexander), the aftercare (long-term follow up) program (Program Head, Dr. Mark Greenberg), the new agent and innovative therapy program (Director, Dr. Sylvain Baruchel) and the cancer genetics program (Program Co-Heads, Drs. David Malkin and Rosanna Weksberg). The haematology section has well-defined large programs in paediatric haemostasis, the paediatric haemoglobinopathies and the paediatric marrow failure syndromes.
The Division is an active member of the Children’s Oncology Group (COG), the largest paediatric clinical trials group in North America (SickKids Principal Investigator, Dr. Ron Grant) and is committed to the improvement in outcomes of children with cancer through participation in ethics approved, prospective clinical trials. The Division is a member of the Paediatric Oncology Phase I Consortium of COG (Principal Investigator, Dr. Sylvain Baruchel) and is an active participant in activities of the Society for International Paediatric Oncology, the Histiocyte Society and the Berlin Frankfurt Munster paediatric leukaemia clinical trials group.
The Division is the largest Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada accredited training program for the specialty paediatric haematology/oncology in Canada (Training Program Director, Dr. Angela Punnett). The education program in the Division also includes a very large international training program in paediatric haematology/oncology and offers subspecialty training opportunities in areas such as paediatric neuro-oncology, cancer genetics and paediatric haemostasis.
Research in the Division spans from clinical to basic science with a special focus on translational research. Currently, 14 of the Division’s 29 full-time faculty have appointments as clinician-scientists or clinician-investigators in the Department of Paediatrics with parallel appointments in the Research Institute. Foci of research include basic science studies in paediatric leukaemias (Dr. Hans Hitzler), solid tumours (Dr. Meredith Irwin), brain tumours (Dr. Annie Huang), retinoblastoma (Dr. Helen Chan), neuroblastoma (Drs. Meredith Irwin, David Kaplan, Sylvain Baruchel), the genetics of childhood cancer (Dr. David Malkin), the supportive care of children with cancer (Dr. Lillian Sung), adverse effects in survivors of childhood cancer (Drs. Mark Greenberg, Paul Nathan), experimental cancer therapies and angiogenesis (Dr. Sylvain Baruchel), paediatric cancer clinical trials, including Phase I studies (all members of the Division), paediatric marrow failure syndromes (Dr. Yigal Dror), platelet granule biology (Dr. Walter Kahr), the inherited and acquired bleeding disorders of childhood including the haemophilias (Drs. Victor Blanchette, Manuel Carcao) and paediatric thrombosis (Drs. Leo Brandao, Susan Williams). Increasingly, research in the Division is multidisciplinary, including health-care professionals with relevant expertise from a variety of areas (including nursing, pharmacy, psychology and social work). The Division is committed to facilitating knowledge exchange through international partnerships with a particular focus on countries lacking the health-care resources that are available in Canada.
The administrative team for the Division includes Dr. James A. Whitlock (Division Head), Dr. Sheila Weitzman (Associate Director, Clinical), Judy Van Clieaf (Director, Child Health Services) and Lucy Holford (Administrator).
Other sites:
Go to the Department of Paediatrics website
What We Do
The Division of Haematology/Oncology registers approximately 275 new cancer cases in children < 18 years of age each year, representing 25 per cent of all new paediatric cancer cases in Canada.
Education and Learning
The Haematology/Oncology Sub-Specialty Training Program is approved by the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada.