News and Events

Diagnosis and Management of Common Childhood Hematology and Oncology Problems: A Guide for Pediatric Primary Care Providers – 11/12/2016

Under the direction of Mitchell S. Cairo, M.D., second from left, professor of pediatrics, medicine, pathology, microbiology and immunology, and cell biology and anatomy, the all-day symposium, “Diagnosis and Management of Common Childhood Hematology and Oncology Problems: A Guide for Pediatric Primary Care Providers,” held on November 12 at Westchester Medical Center, armed pediatric health care professionals with the latest information on the most common pediatric hematologic and oncologic problems and the care of childhood cancer survivors. Among the participants were, from left: Jessica C. Hochberg, M.D., assistant professor of pediatrics; Fernando Ferrer, M.D., section chief, pediatric urology at Maria Fareri Children’s Hospital at Westchester Medical Center; Behzad Bidadi, M.D., M.S., assistant professor of pediatrics; Whitney J. McBride, M.D., associate professor of clinical surgery; keynote speaker Lisa R. Diller, M.D., chief medical officer, Dana-Farber/Boston Children’s Cancer and Blood Disorders Center, director, David B. Perini, Jr., Quality of Life Clinic, Institute; and Mehmet F. Ozkaynak, M.D., professor of pediatrics.

Pediatric Cancer Research Foundation’s Bid for the Kids- 11/10/2016

The event supported the Pediatric Cancer Research Foundation Laboratory directed by Mitchell S. Cairo, M.D. at the Maria Fareri Children’s Hospital at Westchester Medical Center and New York Medical College. Click here to view photos from the event.

St. John’s Dribble for the Cure – 9/24/2016

The 6th annual Dribble for the Cure raised more than $105,000 generated for the Pediatric Cancer Research Foundation! Watch this video to learn more about the event: //www.redstormsports.com/collegesportslive/?media=537314

Light It Up Gold –  9/22/2016

NYMC students, faculty, and staff “Light It Up Gold” in honor of Childhood Cancer Awareness Month

The ASCO Post – 9/10/2016

Learn more about Dr. Cairo’s recommendation that adults with high-grade and aggressive non-Hodgkin lymphomas (NHLs) be treated with pediatric inspired protocols.

Bone Marrow Transplant Recipient Named to 2nd Team All-League

Congratulations to Ryan! Fordham Prep won the New York State Catholic High School “AA” Championship on May 30, 2016, over St. Joseph’s of Buffalo. After the season, Ryan was named to 2nd Team All-League as a Sophomore.

Ryan, airborne on right, with Teammate. (Robert Cole).

Fordham Prep Teammates

Ryan Gilchrist (#19) 2018 Lacrosse Highlight Reel:  //www.youtube.com/watch?v=hMw2EYWyijM&sns=e

9th Annual Pediatric Cancer Research Foundation Dream.Discover.Cure Golf Tournament – 7/11/16

This Armonk favorite golf outing has been focused on raising funds to support the PCRF Laboratory directed by Mitchell S. Cairo, M.D. at the Maria Fareri Children’s Hospital at Westchester Medical Center and New York Medical College. The event kicked-off with a continental breakfast, followed by 18 holes of golf with a 12:00pm shotgun start. Following the tournament play, golfers were able to freshen up before the Cocktail Reception, Dinner, Live Auction and Awards Reception.

Hanif’s Walk for a Sickle Cell Cure – 6/25/16

Votee Park, Teaneck, NJ

6th Annual Paul K. Woolf, M.D., Pediatric Trainee Research Day – 5/18/16

The best basic, quality, clinical, and translational were presented. The four awarded trainees are Lyndsey R Garbi, MD (clinical research), Chiarina Galvez, MD (quality research), Stacey Zahler, DO (translational research), and Juhye Lena Kim, MD (basic research), presented their abstracts in an oral platform session.

17th International Symposium on Pediatric Neuro-Oncology – 6/12/16 – 6/15/16

Congratulations to Dr. Millard who will be presenting his research.

22nd Annual Pediatric Cancer Foundation Walkathon – 4/17/16

Thank you to those that came out for the Walkathon!

The Ruth Rappaport Annual Meeting in Pediatric Oncology Northern Israel – 4/4/16

Invited Lecturer: Mitchell Cairo, MD
“Targeted Therapeutic Approaches in Children, Adolescents and Young Adults with Burkitt Leukemia/Lymphoma”

American Society for Blood and Marrow Transplantation (ASBMT) – BMT Tandem Meetings – 2/18/16-2/22/16

Congratulations to our faculty whose abstracts and research will be presented:

Hamill, D., Baxter-Lowe, L.A., Shenoy, S., Moore, T., Morris, E., Fabricatore, S., Brand, P., Ayello, J., Abikoff, C., van de Ven, C., and Cairo, M.S. Robust donor chimerism and engraftment following familial haploidentical (FHI) CD34 enriched and T-cell addback allogeneic stem cell transplantation in patients with high risk sickle cell disease. Accepted for presentation, American Society of Blood and Marrow Transplantation 2016.

Ghersin, Z., Harrison, L., Abrams, D., Mahanti, H., Fabricatore, S., Klejmont, L., Militano, O., van de Ven, C., and Cairo, M.S. Low molecular weight heparin (LMWH) prophylaxis to prevent sinusoidal obstructive syndrome (SOS) in pediatric hematopoietic stem cell transplant (HSCT) recipients. Accepted for presentation, American Society of Blood and Marrow Transplantation 2016.

Cairo, M.S., Talano, J.A., Moore, T.B., Weinberg, R., Keever-Taylor, C.A., Grossman, B., Baxter-Lowe, L.A., Parsons, S., Braniecki, S., Morris, E., Brand, P., Fabricatore, S., Ayello, J., Semidei-Pomales, M., van de Ven, C., Abikoff, C., and Shenoy, S. Familial haploidentical (FHI) allogeneic stem cell transplantation utilizing CD34 enrichment and T cell addback in children, adolescents and adults with high-risk sickle cell disease. Rapid engraftment, low incidence of AGVHD, and sustained donor chimerism. Accepted for presentation, American Society of Blood and Marrow Transplantation 2016.

Nash, M., Harrison, L., Pulsipher, M., Shi, Q., Abrams, D., Giller, R., Nickerson, B., Morris, E., Militano, O., Ayello, J., Semidei-Pomales, M., Fabricatore, S., Zhang, X., Gurney, J., Herb, S., Sivalenka, R., van de Ven, C., El-Mallawany, N., Abikoff, C., Hochberg, J., Baxter-Lowe, L.A., and Cairo, M.S. A pilot trial of unmatched human placental derived stem cells (HPDSCs) in conjunction with unrelated cord blood transplantation (UCBT) in children and young adults with non-malignant diseases (IND 14949). Accepted for presentation, American Society of Blood and Marrow Transplantation 2016.

Liao, Y., Ivanova, L., Plumer, T., Morris, E., Karimov, C., and Cairo, M.S. Potential use of human placental derived stem cells (HPDSCs) as a novel stem cell source for the treatment of recessive dystrophic epidermolysis bullosa (RDEB). Accepted for presentation, American Society of Blood and Marrow Transplantation 2016.

Flower, A., Chu, Y., Ayello, J., Kurtzberg, J., Lee, D., and Cairo, M.S. Ex-vivo expansion of previously cryopreserved, thawed and re-cryopreserved cord blood mononuclear cells (CBMC) utilizing K562-mbIL21-41BBL: Potential for adoptive cellular immunotherapy post umbilical cord blood transplantation (UCBT). Accepted for presentation, American Society of Blood and Marrow Transplantation 2016.

Chu, Y., Lee, F., Ayello, J., Hang, B., Zhang, M., Wong, H.C., Lee, D.A., and Cairo, M.S. Therapeutic effects of ALT-803, an IL-15 superagonist, in combination with anti-CD20 chimeric antigen receptor modified expanded natural killer cells against Burkitt lymphoma (BL). Accepted for presentation, American Society of Blood and Marrow Transplantation 2016.

Chu, Y., Yahr, A., Cheng, B., Hang, B., Ayello, J. Barth, M., and Cairo, M.S. Effectively targeting rituximab sensitive and resistant Burkitt lymphoma by anti-CD20 chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) modified expanded natural killer cells combined with a histone deactylase inhibitor, romidepsin in vitro and in humanized NSG mice. Accepted for presentation, American Society of Blood and Marrow Transplantation 2016.

Chu, Y., Brand, P., Morris, E., Lee, F., Talano, J.A., Shenoy, S., Moore, T.B., Keever-Taylor, C.A., Weinberg, R., Grossman, B., and Cairo, M.S. Natural killer cell reconstitution following familial haploidentical (FHI) CD34 enriched stem cell transplantation with T-cell add back in patients with high risk sickle cell diseases (SCD) (IND 14359). Accepted for presentation, American Society of Blood and Marrow Transplantation 2016.

Diagnosis and Management of Common Childhood Neurological Problems: A Guide for Pediatricians – 1/9/16

Diagnosis and Management of Common Childhood Neurological Problems: A Guide for Pediatricians is a half-day symposium that provides participants with a concise overview of the neurological problems that they frequently encounter in outpatient, urgent care and emergency room settings. Emphasis will be placed on presentation, evaluation, current and novel treatment approaches and return to normalcy. The faculty consists of leading authorities in the fields of neurology, neurosurgery, neuroradiology, neuro-oncology, neuropsychology and speech and language pathology. Participants will have the opportunity to meet and interact with these regional experts, facilitating further professional networking between pediatric providers and neurology specialists who are l ocally accessible to them and their patients.

WMC Cancer Program: Annual Conference

State of the Science: Treatment of Childhood, Adolescent, and Young Adult Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma – 12/9/15

Faculty Panel: Mitchell Cairo, MD, Nader Kim-Mallawany, MD, and Jessica Hochberg, MD

57th American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting & Exposition – 12/5/2015 – 12/8/2015

Congratulations to our faculty whose abstracts and research were presented at the annual ASH meeting:

Lee, S., Yin, C., Ayello, J., Morris, E., van de Ven, C., and Cairo, M.S. Ruxolitinib significantly prolongs survival in both a primary mediastinal B-cell lymphoma (PMBL) and Hodgkin lymphoma (HL) xenograft NSG mouse model: ruxolitinib may be a potential adjuvant agent in the treatment of PMBL and of HL. Accepted for presentation, American Society of Hematology, 2015. Blood ASH Annual Meeting Abstracts, #2732.

Tiwari, A. Rolland, D.C.M., Elmacken, M., Ayello, J., van de Ven, C., Basrur, V., Conlon, K., Fermin, D., Barth, M.J., Klein, C., Elenitoba-Johnson, K., Lim, M.S., and Cairo, M.S. Comparative phosphoproteomics sudy between obinutuzumab (GA101) vs. rituximab (RTX) against RTX sensitive/resistant Burkitt lymphoma (BL): Differentially phosphorylated B cel receptor, Fc-gamma receptor, phagocytosis and natural killer cell-mediated cytotoxicity signaling pathway proteins. Accepted for presentation, American Society of Hematology, 2015. Blood ASH Annual Meeting Abstracts, #1550.

Lee, S., Yin, C., Ayello, J., Morris, E., van de Ven, C., and Cairo, M.S. Downregulation of DLEU1 significantly shortened survival in a rituximab-treated DLEU1 knockout human Burkitt lymphoma (BL) xenograft NSG mouse model: DLEU1 may act as a tumor suppressor gene in pediatric BL. Accepted for presentation, American Society of Hematology, 2015. Blood ASH Annual Meeting Abstracts, #3656.

Hochberg, J.C., Oesterheld, J., Militano, O., Harrison, L., and Cairo, M.S. A pilot study of mitoxantrone in combination with clofarabine (MITCL) in children, adolescents and young adults (CAYA) with refractory/relapsed acute leukemia. Accepted for presentation American Society of Hematology, 2015. Blood ASH Annual Meeting Abstracts, #2499.

Chu, Y., Lee, F., Ayello, J., Hang, B., Zhang, M., Wong, H.C., Lee, D.A., and Cairo, M.S. Therapeutic effects of Alt-803, an IL-15 superagonist, in combination with anti-CD20 chimeric antigen receptor modified expanded natural killer cells against pediatric Burkitt lymphoma (BL). Accepted for presentation, American Society of Hematology, 2015. Blood ASH Annual Meeting Abstracts, #3085.

5th Annual Assistant Professor Pediatric Symposium – 11/18/15

The 5th Annual Assistant Professor Pediatric Research Symposium was hosted by the Department of Pediatrics and the Children’s Health and Research Foundation, Inc., and chaired by Mitchell S. Cairo, M.D., Chief of the Division of Pediatric Hematology, Oncology, and Stem Cell Transplantation on November 18, 2015. The best basic, clinical, quality and translational research abstracts were presented: Yanling Liao, PhD, Assistant Professor, Department of Pediatrics, Division of Pediatric Hematology, Oncology, and Stem Cell Transplantation (basic research), Jessica Hochberg, MD, Assistant Professor, Department of Pediatrics, Division of Pediatric Hematology, Oncology, and Stem Cell Transplantation (clinical research), Jordan Kase, MD, Assistant Professor, Department of Pediatrics, Division of Neonatology (quality research) and Nathan Millard, MD, Assistant Professor, Department of Pediatrics, Division of Pediatric Hematology, Oncology, and Stem Cell Transplantation (translational research).

Pediatric Cancer Research Foundation’s Bid for the Kids
New York Gala – 11/12/15

The Pediatric Cancer Research Foundation’s 2015 New York Gala combines incredible cuisine, wines, auctions and live entertainment to reach our goal of raising funds to support cutting edge pediatric cancer research.

Wines of the World – 11/5/15

A light supper, a tasting of the world’s finest wines, and a spectacular auction of food, wine, and leisure experiences to benefit Maria Fareri Children’s Hospital.

5th International Symposium on Childhood, Adolescent and Young Adult Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma – 10/22/15 – 10/24/15

This symposium was designed to present the latest scientific and clinical advances in childhood, adolescent and young adult NHL, NHL biopathology, NHL genomics, stem cell transplantation, immunobiology, translational biology, novel therapeutics and others. The educational content of this conference was relevant for Medical and Pediatric Oncologists, Stem and Immune Cell Transplantation Investigators, Hematopathologists, Basic Scientists, Physicians-in-training (Fellows/Residents/Post Docs), Oncology Nurses and other associated allied health professionals. The conference featured internationally-recognized speakers from a multidisciplinary, diverse group comprised of basic scientists, translational biologists and clinical investigators. The conference included formal didactic presentations, informal discussion panels, oral abstract presentations, poster discussions and poster presentations.

Living is Life article

2nd Annual Wellness & Survivorship Day – 10/3/15

Members of the staff of Maria Fareri Children’s Hospital came together to celebrate the wellness and survivorship of our pediatric cancer and stem cell transplant patients and their families.

St. John’s Dribble for the Cure – 9/26/15

St. John’s Dribble for the Cure is a community event designed to engage fans and Red Storm supporters in raising awareness and funds to improve the care, quality of life and survival rate of children with malignant disease.

The funds raised by the Pediatric Cancer Research Foundation (PCRF) through the St. John’s Dribble for the Cure benefitted the PCRF Laboratory directed by Mitchell S. Cairo, M.D. at the Children and Adolescent Blood Diseases Center at New York Medical College and Maria Fareri Children’s Hospital.

The day began with games and festive entertainment, followed by dribbling your own favorite basketball across St. John’s beautiful campus and finished up with awards and autographs in Carneseca Arena.

“Myths & Truths About Sickle Cell Disease” – 9/24/15

Presented by the African American Men of Westchester. Subject matter experts focused on four areas of public interest: pain management, stem cell transplantation, gene therapy, and blood transfusion.

NVRQT Night at Metro Chicago – 8/13/15

Cancer survivor and two-time World Series Champion pitcher Jon Lester and his wife Farrah hosted NVRQT Night at Metro Chicago Thursday, August 13. The night included a 3 Up, 3 Down event, which is a unique and fun take on the famous game show “Hollywood Squares.” Jon and Farrah, along with local celebrities, coaches and teammates, took part as contestants during the event. Fans watched the excitement and partook in live and silent auctions. Proceeds from the event benefitted Lester’s NVRQT campaign, run by the Pediatric Cancer Research Foundation (PCRF), which helps raise awareness and money for pediatric cancer research.

Pediatric Cancer Research Foundation (PCRF) 16th Memorial Lectureship – 7/14/15

Dr. Robert C. Seeger lectured on “Cancer Immunology and Immunotherapy – the Yin and Yang of the Neuroblastoma Microenvironment”at the New York Medical Center.

Pediatric Cancer Research Foundation’s Golf Tournament – 7/13/15

This charity golf classic in Armonk, NY, raised funds for the research of Dr. Mitchell Cairo of New York Medical College and Maria Fareri Children’s Hospital.