Special Feature

Interview with Dr. Bill Woods

ASPHO is pleased to launch its eNews Special Feature Member Interview Series with a conversation with Dr. Bill Woods, MD, Past President and recipient of the 2011 Distinguished Career Award, about his many contributions to the field and to the Society. Dr. Woods recently announced his retirement from Children's Healthcare of Atlanta/Emory University. ASPHO member Stella M. Davies, MBBS PhD, recently interviewed Dr. Woods for eNews.

Pediatric hematology/oncology (PHO) has come an enormous distance over the last 40 years. One person leading that charge from the outset was William (Bill) G. Woods, MD, the inaugural interviewee of this new ASPHO series of interviews with key figures in PHO. Bill was ASPHO’s president between 2006 and 2008 and received the ASPHO Distinguished Career Award in 2011. He has devoted his life to a combination of basic and clinical research and has seen childhood cancer change from a catastrophic diagnosis to a scary but largely treatable illness.

Bill is well known for his encyclopedic knowledge of the PHO literature and his ability to cut to the central core of any clinical problem. However, Bill is loved for his kindness, generosity of spirit, and the guidance and mentorship he has given to thousands—patients, families and practitioners—in the field of PHO.

This writer was lucky enough to talk about the past and future of PHO, and of ASPHO, with Bill on a bright, sunny day when COVID-19 concerns were pushed into the background for a brief time.

Stella M. Davies (SMD): Bill, why did you decide to go into pediatric oncology?

William G. Woods (WGW): In medical school, I heard that the intelligent folk all go into internal medicine, but I discovered during my training that I had a “pediatric personality”—it’s all about “how happy are you with the people around you?” I had never thought I would be an oncologist, but as a resident I noticed that the children who crawled under my skin—you know, the ones who stick with you—were all kids with cancer, and I suffered right alongside them. I also found intellectual fascination in the science—remember this was back before anybody knew what an oncogene was!

SMD: What are the most important changes you have seen in PHO during the last 40 years?

WGW: First, of course, chemotherapy development that worked in animal models appeared to work better in pediatric than adult cancer, giving us the tools to cure cancer. Second, the formation of the cooperative groups. Mortality in PHO fell briskly after the formation of the cooperative groups, and the group strategy spread later to Europe, where further advances were made. In more recent years, development of small molecule inhibitors and now immunotherapy are moving the field forward briskly.

SMD: Why were cooperative groups more successful in PHO than in any other field of medicine?

WGW: One important factor has been that children with cancer historically were generally all referred promptly to academic medical centers for care. Pediatric oncologists agreed as early as the 1950s that we needed to band together to ever make progress in what is, mercifully, a very rare disease. The other important factor has been the culture and characteristics of pediatric oncologists—we are natural “groupies” and love to share, collaborate, discuss, and work together. Also, our field has always focused on the children and not on finance, making cooperative care easier.

SMD: Bill, we have chosen a field in which sometimes, despite our best efforts, children are lost. Has that become easier to handle over the years?

WGW: This never gets easier, but it is a privilege to be with families, helping them on the most difficult days of their lives. This is where the art of medicine takes over from the science.

SMD: Would you recommend this career to someone just starting out today?

WGW: Yes, I would. There is no better field. The kids, the patients, are always at the center, the research is moving forward, and we have had less focus on financial gain.

SMD: How did you first get involved in ASPHO?

WGW: I was an assistant professor at the University of Minnesota in the early 1980s when the idea of ASPHO was being discussed by Bill Krivit (who became the first president of ASPHO in 1981) and Mark Nesbit (president of ASPHO, 1987-1989). I always liked the idea, and in the early years helped out in unexpected ways. At one meeting in the early years, Bill Krivit had me stand at the door of the meeting with a bucket to collect donations! ASPHO has provided a unique home for pediatric hematologists and oncologists, and at the annual meeting there is a feeling of spending time with a group of friends, unlike any other academic meeting.

SMD: You were president of ASPHO from 2006 to 2008. What were the most important decisions you made in that time?

WGW: I was president when ASPHO made the decision to separate the ASPHO meeting from the Pediatric Academic Society (PAS) meetings. Looking back, that was a great decision but one that was hard at the time. I am especially proud of leading ASPHO advocacy efforts that elevated sickle cell disease, and the benefits of this advocacy by us and others are now seen in improved sickle cell care nationally and, more recently, an influx of new drugs.

SMD: What does the future hold for ASPHO?

WGW: ASPHO will continue to do what is does well, making sure the profession stays focused on children and advocating for both patients and caregivers. ASPHO will continue to offer collegiality and great science and education for hematologists and oncologists, for both junior and senior investigators.

SMD: Thank you for these words, Bill, and thank you for all your contributions to our field, and to so many people’s lives.