What led you to, or excited you about, the PHO subspecialty?

It sounds clichéd, but the opportunity to help take care of critically ill children—who just want to get better—is what drew me to pediatrics to begin with. In medical school, I had the opportunity to do several PHO electives both in North America and abroad. These experiences cemented my interest in pursuing PHO as a career. The intense and long-lasting relationships with families, together with the ability to help their children get through the most challenging of times, was very appealing. At the same time, I have been involved with basic science research since my freshman year of college. The breadth of PHO research opportunities is unparalleled, and the ability to see observations in the lab be translated into patient care with improvement in outcomes is incredibly rewarding.

How has your background prepared you for the role of president of ASPHO’s Board of Trustees?

I have been involved with ASPHO since the late 1990s, serving on numerous committees (Training, Program, Education, Professional Development, Finance) and joining the ASPHO board in 2017. My subsequent roles as secretary/treasurer and vice president have given me a broad perspective about the many areas that ASPHO members are passionate about. The opportunity to work closely with a group of amazing and dedicated volunteers to advocate for PHO and our members has been one of the (long) highlights of my career. I look forward to continuing to support ASPHO members as we move into a year of strategic planning to help move our field forward.

What do you feel are the greatest challenges facing ASPHO as an organization?

There are several challenges we will need to face in the coming years: workforce issues related to fewer MD/DO trainees being interested in pediatrics, working closely with APPs who are critical to our missions, threats to the training model that has sustained us and helped propel the field forward over the years, and larger concerns about mistrust of the medical profession. We need to develop thoughtful approaches to face each of these issues, and I am excited to work with ASPHO board members and management to come up with rational and practical solutions. Over the years, research—basic, clinical, translational, health services—has been an essential part of PHO and has led to the incredible advances that we have made in patient care. We need to ensure that our trainees are exposed to all aspects of investigation so that they can continue to participate in developing new therapies and treatments.

How has the membership and involvement in ASPHO benefited you as your career has progressed?

I have been deeply involved in ASPHO throughout my career—from presenting at meetings, to serving on committees, to mentoring trainees and faculty, and finally to serving on the board and helping shape our field. The friendships and relationships that I have made through ASPHO over the years, together with the opportunity to work closely with amazing and dedicated colleagues, have been a highlight of my career. I would strongly encourage members at all levels to become involved with ASPHO—attending the ASPHO Conference, joining committees and SIGs, to give just two examples—so they can experience the incredible highs of participating in the future of pediatric hematology/oncology!

To address these concerns, we developed a digital communication intervention to support patients and families facing a new diagnosis of acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) called EXPECT (Expectations for Pediatric Cancer Treatment; NCI K08CA245036). EXPECT conveys comprehensive yet succinct information about what lies ahead for children with ALL treated on a Dana-Farber Cancer Institute ALL Consortium trial. EXPECT includes tailored printed information to facilitate discussions between clinicians and parents and an interactive website with information parents can review at their own pace. The website was codesigned with clinical experts, patients, and families to provide comprehensive information to support families from diagnosis through survivorship in understanding ALL multiphase treatment, including anticipated symptoms and toxicities, homecare responsibilities, medication administration, and potential long-term effects and survivorship care.

Support from the Northwestern Mutual Award for Excellence in Childhood Cancer Survivorship funded the creation of a series of videos in response to a stakeholder-identified preferences to learn from experts and others who have previously experienced pediatric leukemia treatment. Specifically, with the generous support provided, we created videos highlighting experts, as well as patients and families, talking about what to expect in ALL survivorship. These videos have been incorporated into the EXPECT website survivorship section. EXPECT has undergone pretesting with excellent acceptability ratings (mean, 4.7/5) and will be tested in real-time patient care to assess feasibility and preliminary effectiveness in improving communication and care experiences for patients enrolled on the upcoming Dana-Farber Cancer Institute ALL Consortium clinical trial. If effective, EXPECT can serve as a model for similar resources for other pediatric cancer treatments to improve early communication for pediatric cancer treatment and survivorship to help parents prepare for their children’s futures.

• Title: A title that clearly conveys the content of the session
• Session description: One or two paragraphs summarizing the educational need and goals of the session
• Learning objectives: Two or three clearly defined learning objectives/take aways
• Citations/information sources: Share if there is any data supporting the need for the session, for example, surveys, SIG support, call for workshop topic needs, and/or published references, if available
• Presentation outline:
• Include the titles of each proposed talk with named speaker.
• Additional descriptions of content for each talk is welcomed.
• The number of speakers (usually 2 or 3 plus moderator) and estimated time per talk should be feasible within a 60–75 minute session.
• Include any details about how the session is committed to ASPHO’s core values of diversity, inclusion, and healthy equity.
• Explicitly state how your workshop incorporates best practices in adult learning, including how you are incorporating audience engagement/participation in the session (PollEverywhere, case-based, small groups, etc.).
• Speakers should be diverse in terms of perspective, institution, program size, and seniority, if possible.
• For reference, you can view a previously accepted, well-received workshop proposal here.

Why strategic planning? Professional membership societies are facing an increasing number of challenges and diverse needs from members in a dynamic healthcare environment. There is interest in developing new programs, services, technologies, and more. ASPHO can’t do it all, and it can be challenging to determine which opportunities will have the greatest impact for the greatest number of members and professionals. A strategic plan based on input by members “enables an organization to function from an intentional and active place rather than a reactive one. It streamlines decision-making and acts as a road map for realizing the organization’s vision.”

Our current goals reflect work we have focused on and prioritized over the past 4 years. Some may remain but need new direction.

ASPHO conducted focus groups of members and nonmembers of early, mid and late careerists during the 2026 ASPHO Conference in Minneapolis. The ASPHO Board of Trustees has held several meetings to practice foresight around key issues in preparation for strategic planning and hired a consultant to guide our efforts effectively. A key step in strategic planning will involve collecting input through a member survey coming this spring. We hope to have a draft strategic plan by summer, and then we will be refining it and posting it for member comments and feedback this fall. We encourage you to be vocal.

ASPHO invites you to participate and help guide your professional Society into the future!

Through its expert-developed programs and community of 1,900 members, ASPHO offers resources that support early careerists, including the Clinical Forum, mentoring program, special interest groups, and awards and volunteer opportunities.

Stay connected with the ASPHO community as you navigate this crucial phase of your career. Email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. , call 847.375.4716, or go online to update your address information and maintain your membership!

Jennifer Davila, MD, Children’s Hospital at Montefiore (mentee), and Courtney Thornburg, MD, Children’s Hospital of Orange County (mentor)

Lisa Jacola, PhD ABPP-CN, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital (mentee), and Lucie Turcotte, MD MPH, University of Minnesota Masonic Children’s Hospital (mentor)

Julie Krystal, MD MPH, Cohen Children’s Medical Center (mentee), and Amir Mian, MD MS MBA, Dell Children’s Medical Center (mentor)

Cathy Lee-Miller, MD, American Family Children’s Hospital (mentee), and Doug Hawkins, MD, Seattle Children’s Hospital (mentor)

Julia Meade, MD, WVU Medicine Children’s Hospital (mentee), and Leo Mascarenhas, MD, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center (mentor)

Emily Mueller, MD MSc, Riley Hospital for Children–IU Health (mentee), and Doug Graham, MD PhD, Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta (mentor)

Kathyrn Scott, MD MPH, SUNY Upstate Golisano Children’s Hospital (mentee), and Patrick McGann, MD PhD, Hasbro Children’s Hospital (mentor)

Midcareer professionals interested in joining the 2027–2028 program class are encouraged to apply when the next call for applications opens in early fall 2026. Learn more and explore program benefits and details.

Education and Professional Development Committee Needs Assessment

In July 2025, ASPHO conducted a facilitated strategy session with Education and Professional Development Committee leadership and staff. It was identified that there was a lack of current data on member and customer (or nonmember) needs. In August 2025, the board approved conducting a segmented education needs assessment that would contribute to the strategic planning process. At its November in-person board meeting, the board participated in focus groups as part of the initiative.

The Education and Professional Development Committee provided support for continued consulting work conducting a comprehensive Educational Needs Analysis of the educational and professional development needs of the pediatric hematology/oncology community. As ASPHO prepares for its next multiyear strategic planning cycle, this research provides the empirical foundation necessary to align educational offerings with the evolving demands of its membership. The primary goal of this initiative was to develop a clear understanding of the specific needs, motivations, and “pain points” of ASPHO’s diverse audiences. Through deep-dive qualitative research with over 50 stakeholders representing a wide range of career stages, practice settings, institution sizes, roles, and engagement levels, critical gaps and areas of strategic growth were identified for the organization.

These results will now be incorporated into the strategic planning process and data collection. Further research will be conducted by the strategic planning consultants to test/affirm these hypotheses with a greater number of members and gather feedback beyond education and professional development.

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The Physician Scientist Special Interest Group (PS-SIG) is a community for all pediatric hematology/oncology clinicians committed to basic, translational, and clinical research. The PS-SIG aims to create an interactive forum for ASPHO member-researchers from all career stages to support one another and share invaluable knowledge and career advice.

The career of a physician-scientist (PS) in academic medicine can be extremely challenging at times but also can be very rewarding. PS-SIG activities focus on highlighting the inspiration and motivation that lead many physicians on this path and, at the same time, recognizing and discussing stressful career challenges.

In the past 3 years, we have conducted webinars on various topics with invited speakers as well as open-forum webinars for PS-SIG members to facilitate informal discussions. Webinars on topics such as “How to Negotiate for Start-Up Packages Successfully,” “How To Write Strong Grant Proposals for NIH K, Foundation, and NIH R Awards,” “Research Team Management—Efficiently Managing Finance and Leading Research Personnel,” “How to Determine Academic Success Regardless of Career Level?” ‘Collaborations and Career Paths in Industry,” and “Physician-Scientist Career Path Insights” were well received by the PS-SIG community. Our last invited speaker was Dr E. Anders Kolb, a pediatric hematology/oncology PS who now serves as the president and CEO of Blood Cancer United (formerly the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society). His previous roles have included being a division director as well as chair of the COG AML committee. Dr Kolb provided excellent insights into the challenges seen by PSs and gave invaluable advice to all the attendees. Recordings from previous webinars and other resources are available to PS-SIG members in the Member Community page library. The library also includes resources like a list of non-NIH funding opportunities specific to PHO researchers. We now have over 200 members in the PS-SIG.

In FY2026, the PS-SIG would like your support in achieving two goals we have set forth. The first is to identify the barriers PS lab trainees face when attending and presenting their research at ASPHO Conferences. We will recommend possible strategies to increase the representation of PS research teams and their work (basic-translational-clinical research) at upcoming ASPHO Conferences. We hope to see more ASPHO PS lab trainees (post-docs, graduate students, MD-PhD students) join the ASPHO community as associate members, submit their work as abstracts, and apply for travel awards. We will seek input from all ASPHO members, ASPHO leadership, and especially PS-SIG members about other ways to support ASPHO PS research teams.

Second, we want to gain a better understanding of the current challenges being faced by PSs in PHO, especially considering the changing fellowship structure (2-year clinical vs. 3-year with research) proposed by the American Board of Pediatrics. Last year, we shared the American Association of Medical Colleges report, “Exploring the Landscape for Physician-Scientist Training and Career Development” with our SIG members. This report is intended to serve as a resource for institutions seeking models and potential strategies to better support their PS learners and early-career faculty in navigating known barriers to their success. The full report can be accessed through the PS-SIG page. Based on this report, we would like to create a survey to assess barriers among PHO PS members. We intend to send this survey to program directors, PSs and trainees, with an eventual plan of generating a manuscript and presenting our findings at the next ASPHO Conference.

Finally, we would like to thank Dr. Chandrika Behura for all her efforts in leading the PS-SIG, serving as the vice chair from 2022-2024 and then as the chair from 2024-2026. We are extremely grateful for her service and contributions to our SIG, and we look forward to a continued collaboration in the future. The incoming chair for the PS-SIG is Dr. Sunil Raikar, and the vice chair is Dr. Jenny Shim.

Most importantly, thank you to all the members of the PS-SIG! Please encourage others to join and participate in our workshops, webinars, in-person meetings, and discussion board by interacting with us here! We look forward to continuing to support all research in pediatric hematology/oncology!

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The patient is a 2-year-old boy with failure to thrive who presented to the ER due to vomiting. He has no diarrhea. This is the patient’s third visit to the ER for vomiting in the past 3 weeks. He also seems increasingly fatigued and is sleeping most of the day. His mother reports he is having episodes of grabbing his head crying.

On exam in the ER, he is afebrile, HR 115, BP 110/60. He is sleepy but awakes appropriately for age. Pupils are equal and reactive. He has subtle lateral gaze restriction bilaterally with nystagmus. His cranial nerves are otherwise normal. He has normal strength and no dysmetria when reaching for objects. The examiner notes that the patient holds an iPad within inches of his face. His abdomen is soft, nontender, and has no palpable masses.

What is best next step in workup?

Take the quiz.

Angela Ricci, MD
Nadine Santa Cruz, MD MPH
Pediatric Hematology/ Oncology
Dartmouth Health Childrens

The Conference opened with opportunities for new members, first-time attendees, residents, and medical students to connect with peers, meet ASPHO leaders, and learn more about the many ways to get involved in the community. Special Interest Group gatherings throughout the meeting also brought together attendees with common interests and shared professional experiences.

Support from industry partners and opportunities to explore new innovations added to the energy of the 2026 conference, along with a fun passport prize activity for attendees.

Congratulations to Passport Prize winners and Sean O'Connor, winner of the $250 drawing for joining ASPHO during the conference in Minneapolis.

We sincerely thank the 2026 Conference Planning Committee Chair Jessica Heath, MD, Vice Chair, Caitlin Neri, the committee members, and the many experts, speakers, and presenters whose time and contributions made this year’s Conference such a meaningful educational and networking experience.

CME credit is also available for those who attended the Pediatric Transplantation and Cellular Therapy Consortium (PTCTC) educational program that was held on Tuesday, April 28, in conjunction with the ASPHO Conference.