Faculty

Jeffrey Bednarski is an Assistant Professor of Pediatrics. His lab studies blood and immune cell development. He also is the lead investigator on several clinical trials investigating new immune therapies and stem cell transplant treatments for leukemia. He has funding form the NIH as well as several private philanthropies to support his work. He is committed to training students, residents and fellows in both clinical and laboratory research.

Jeffrey Bednarski Lab

Margaret Ferris is a pediatric oncologist. Her research focuses on MLL-rearranged leukemias, which are among the most common causes of AML and infant ALL. MLL mutations also cause therapy-related AML, a rare but devastating illness that can arise after children receive chemotherapy for other types of prior cancers. Dr. Ferris is interested in how retinoids (a chemical that controls myeloid cell development) might be used to treat MLL-rearranged leukemias. She uses a variety of molecular techniques, including high throughput sequencing and proteomic tools that have been pioneered at Washington University. Dr. Ferris’s clinical practice focuses on caring for patients with leukemias and lymphomas.

Robert Hayashi’s areas of investigation fall into two main categories: 1) Clinical therapeutic trials in pediatric oncology with an emphasis on early phase studies and quality assurance, with particular interests in Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma and post-transplant lymphoproliferative disorder, a common disease that arises in patients after solid organ transplants. 2) Long term side effects of cancer therapy, with particular interests in a) ototoxicity, b) cognitive impairment c) cardio-oncology d) infertility; our team develops both institutional and multi-institutional studies to both increase our understanding of these topics and to advance care to improve the lives of childhood cancer patients.

Laura Schuettpelz is an Associate Professor of Pediatrics. Her lab focuses on understanding how inflammation influences blood stem cells and contributes to the development of leukemias. Her research is funded by the NIH as well as several foundations. Dr. Schuettpelz is the director of the Pediatric Hematology/Oncology Fellowship Program at Washington University/SLCH, and she is actively involved in the recruitment and training of fellows, residents, and graduate students. She is also a co-leader of the Hematopoietic Development and Malignancy Program of Siteman Cancer Center. Her clinical focus is on children with leukemias and lymphomas.

Laura Schuettpelz Lab

Katarina Semkiu is a pediatric oncologist who primarily sees patients with leukemias and lymphomas. She has a passion for medical education, and her scholarly work focuses on exploring curriculum development with integration of technology into traditional curricular models. She also has an interest in factors that influence professional identity formation. Her current work focuses on development and evaluation of an asynchronous case-driven hematology/oncology curriculum for pediatric residents.

Shalini Shenoy is a pediatric transplant and cellular therapy physician whose academic interest is transplantation for non-malignant disorders (NMD) and long-term follow up of recipients thereafter. She has particular expertise in hemoglobinopathy and transplantation. Her focus on transplantation includes reduced intensity transplants for NMD, reducing risks of graft-versus-host disease, enhancing immune reconstitution, and preserving organ functions after successful transplantation and cure.

Shalini Shenoy Lab

Stephen Sykes is an Associate Professor in the Department of Pediatrics and a member of the Siteman Cancer Center. The central focus of his laboratory is to identify the molecular drivers of high-risk acute myeloid leukemia (AML) and then use that information to develop safe and highly effective therapeutic strategies. Dr. Sykes is also committed to mentoring and training the next generation of leukemia researchers. His research program is sponsored by the National Cancer Division of the NIH as well as various foundations and he is a Research Scholar of the American Cancer Society.

Stephen Sykes Lab