Texas Children's Cancer Center
Encyclopedia
Texas Children's Cancer and Hematology Centers is the largest pediatric oncology and blood disease center in the United States. U.S. News & World Report
ranked the cancer center #1 in Texas and #4 in the United States. It is located in Houston, Texas
.
Texas Children's Hospitals is designated on the U.S. News and World Report Honor Roll, which is reserved to those hospitals that rank in all 10 subspecialties surveyed.
The facilities of the multidisciplinary center, located at Texas Children's Hospital
in the Texas Medical Center
, includes a 36-bed inpatient unit, a 22000 square feet (2,043.9 m²) outpatient clinic and a 15-bed bone marrow transplant unit, as well as extensive research laboratories. Each year the center provides a specialized level of care to more than 1,500 children and adolescents newly diagnosed with cancer and blood diseases.
The center is staffed by nationally and internationally recognized experts who have made major clinical and research advances in the treatment of childhood malignancies. Residents completing core programs in pediatrics may enter accredited subspecialty training in the Texas Children’s Cancer Center’s hematology/oncology training program. The Center has three NIH-funded training grants.
Current research programs include molecular oncology, tumor cell biology, pharmacology and experimental therapeutics, cancer genetics, cancer genomics, cell and gene therapy, transplantation biology, tumor immunology and neuro-oncology. A major focus of the center is to develop innovative therapies for those pediatric cancers and blood disorders that pose the greatest challenges for cure.
provided the first grant that the center was funded on.
In 1959, Dr. Fernbach performed the first bone marrow transplant from one identical twin to another; this was one of the first procedures of its kind for aplastic anemia.
The TCH Hematology Center has been serving children with SCD since 1958. The service first employed a comprehensive program for screening newborns at the large Harris County Hospital District facility in 1975 and was instrumental in the creation of the State newborn screening program. Patients from 20 surrounding counties and East Texas are drawn to the program.
In 2001, the Texas Children’s Sickle Cell Center was formed to provide comprehensive care to the patients being followed by the service. The Texas Children’s Sickle Cell Center is located within the Texas Children’s Cancer and Hematology Centers.
. Senior Baylor College of Medicine faculty members oversee the Cancer Center’s efforts in basic and clinical research.
.
along the Texas-Mexico Border. In the last ten years, the clinic has treated more than 5,000 children with cancer or hematologic disorders.
The clinic is led by medical director Dr. Juan Carlos Bernini and by Dr. Rodrigo Erana, both assistant professors of pediatrics – hematology/oncology at Baylor College of Medicine, along with a pediatric nurse practitioner, a staff of registered nurses, social workers, clinic technicians and administrative support.
is associated with Texas Children's Cancer Center.
In 2011, Robert Duvall
appeared at a record-breaking Houston charity event when he was interviewed by Bob Schieffer
for 'An Evening with a Texas Legend'. The event raised over $9 million.
U.S. News & World Report
U.S. News & World Report is an American news magazine published from Washington, D.C. Along with Time and Newsweek it was for many years a leading news weekly, focusing more than its counterparts on political, economic, health and education stories...
ranked the cancer center #1 in Texas and #4 in the United States. It is located in Houston, Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
.
Texas Children's Hospitals is designated on the U.S. News and World Report Honor Roll, which is reserved to those hospitals that rank in all 10 subspecialties surveyed.
The facilities of the multidisciplinary center, located at Texas Children's Hospital
Texas Children's Hospital
Texas Children's Hospital is a pediatric hospital located in the Texas Medical Center in Houston, Texas.With 639 licensed beds and 465 beds in operation, Texas Children's is the largest children's hospital in the United States and is affiliated with the Baylor College of Medicine as that...
in the Texas Medical Center
Texas Medical Center
The Texas Medical Center is the largest medical center in the world with one of the highest densities of clinical facilities for patient care, basic science, and translational research...
, includes a 36-bed inpatient unit, a 22000 square feet (2,043.9 m²) outpatient clinic and a 15-bed bone marrow transplant unit, as well as extensive research laboratories. Each year the center provides a specialized level of care to more than 1,500 children and adolescents newly diagnosed with cancer and blood diseases.
The center is staffed by nationally and internationally recognized experts who have made major clinical and research advances in the treatment of childhood malignancies. Residents completing core programs in pediatrics may enter accredited subspecialty training in the Texas Children’s Cancer Center’s hematology/oncology training program. The Center has three NIH-funded training grants.
Current research programs include molecular oncology, tumor cell biology, pharmacology and experimental therapeutics, cancer genetics, cancer genomics, cell and gene therapy, transplantation biology, tumor immunology and neuro-oncology. A major focus of the center is to develop innovative therapies for those pediatric cancers and blood disorders that pose the greatest challenges for cure.
History
Originally called the Research Hematology Laboratory, Texas Children's Cancer Center was founded by Dr. Donald J. Fernbach in January 1958. The National Cancer InstituteNational Cancer Institute
The National Cancer Institute is part of the National Institutes of Health , which is one of 11 agencies that are part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The NCI coordinates the U.S...
provided the first grant that the center was funded on.
In 1959, Dr. Fernbach performed the first bone marrow transplant from one identical twin to another; this was one of the first procedures of its kind for aplastic anemia.
The TCH Hematology Center has been serving children with SCD since 1958. The service first employed a comprehensive program for screening newborns at the large Harris County Hospital District facility in 1975 and was instrumental in the creation of the State newborn screening program. Patients from 20 surrounding counties and East Texas are drawn to the program.
In 2001, the Texas Children’s Sickle Cell Center was formed to provide comprehensive care to the patients being followed by the service. The Texas Children’s Sickle Cell Center is located within the Texas Children’s Cancer and Hematology Centers.
Educational Institutions
Texas Children's Hospital is affiliated with Baylor College of MedicineBaylor College of Medicine
Baylor College of Medicine, located in the Texas Medical Center in Houston, Texas, USA, is a highly regarded medical school and leading center for biomedical research and clinical care...
. Senior Baylor College of Medicine faculty members oversee the Cancer Center’s efforts in basic and clinical research.
Inter-Institutional Collaborations
In March 2009, The Retinoblastoma Center of Houston became the world's first retinoblastoma center made up of more than two centers. The multi-institutional collaboration involved scientists from Texas Children's Cancer Center, The University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center's Children's Cancer Hospital, Baylor College of Medicine, and The Methodist HospitalThe Methodist Hospital
The Methodist Hospital is a hospital located in the Texas Medical Center in Houston, Texas. Established in 1919 as an outreach ministry of The United Methodist Church, Methodist is one of the most comprehensive teaching hospitals in the United States, with leading specialists in every field of...
.
Outreach Clinic
The Vannie E. Cook Jr. Children’s Cancer and Hematology Clinic is an outreach clinic of the Texas Children's Cancer Center & Hematology Service. It is located in McAllen, TexasMcAllen, Texas
McAllen is the largest city in Hidalgo County, Texas, United States. It is located at the southern tip of Texas in an area known as the Rio Grande Valley and is part of the . Its southern boundary is located about five miles from the U.S.–Mexico border and the Mexican city of Reynosa, the Rio...
along the Texas-Mexico Border. In the last ten years, the clinic has treated more than 5,000 children with cancer or hematologic disorders.
The clinic is led by medical director Dr. Juan Carlos Bernini and by Dr. Rodrigo Erana, both assistant professors of pediatrics – hematology/oncology at Baylor College of Medicine, along with a pediatric nurse practitioner, a staff of registered nurses, social workers, clinic technicians and administrative support.
Patient Programs
The Purple Songs Can Fly ProjectPurple Songs Can Fly Project
Purple Songs Can Fly Project is a non-profit organization that sponsors a music program at the Texas Children's Cancer Center in Houston, Texas. It allows patients at the hospital to compose and record songs in a real studio....
is associated with Texas Children's Cancer Center.
Philanthropic Gifts
As a part of Texas Children's Hospital, the center is designated a nonprofit medical corporation chartered as a 01(c)(3) tax-exempt organization under the IRS.In 2011, Robert Duvall
Robert Duvall
Robert Selden Duvall is an American actor and director. He has won an Academy Award, two Emmy Awards, four Golden Globe Awards and a BAFTA over the course of his career....
appeared at a record-breaking Houston charity event when he was interviewed by Bob Schieffer
Bob Schieffer
Bob Lloyd Schieffer is an American television journalist who has been with CBS News since 1969, serving 23 years as anchor on the Saturday edition of CBS Evening News from 1973 to 1996; chief Washington correspondent since 1982, moderator of the Sunday public affairs show Face the Nation since...
for 'An Evening with a Texas Legend'. The event raised over $9 million.
Notable Physicians
- Malcolm BrennerMalcolm BrennerMalcolm K. Brenner is a British clinical scientist working mostly in the field of gene therapy and immunotherapy applied to malignancy....
, MD, PhD — Director, Center for Cell and Gene Therapy, Baylor College of Medicine - Ralph FeiginRalph FeiginRalph David Feigin was an American pediatrician whose influential book Textbook of Pediatric Infectious Diseases was in its sixth printing at the time of his death.-Education:...
, MD — Physician-in-Chief, 1977–2008, Texas Children's Hospital - David PoplackDavid PoplackDavid Poplack is the Director of the Texas Children's Cancer Center at Texas Children's Hospital.He is Principal Investigator of the Baylor College of Medicine Department of Pediatrics NIH-funded Pediatric Pharmacology Research Unit, Principal Investigator of an NCI K12 Pediatric Oncology Clinical...
, MD — Director, Texas Children's Cancer Center, Professor of Pediatrics.
External links
- Texas Children’s Cancer and Hematology Centers
- Texas Children's Cancer Center on Facebook
- Baylor College of Medicine
- The Retinoblastoma Center of Houston
- The Curing Children's Cancer Fund
- Carousel, Young Friends of Texas Children's Cancer Center
- Nick's Team
- Dec My Room Project at Texas Children's Cancer Center
- The Purple Songs Can Fly Project