At Roswell Park Oishei Children’s Cancer and Blood Disorders program, your child will have leading nationally recognized experts in pediatric cancer and blood disorders, plus essential support services, while keeping your family close to home.
For children with chronic conditions, we help them grow and learn to manage their disease and help them as they transition and graduate to adult care.
Our unique collaboration achieves world class care
While Roswell Comprehensive Cancer Center and the children’s hospital have collaborated for years, our proximity on the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus offered new opportunities for even better care, combining the best pediatric, oncology, and hematology expertise in the region with:
- An elite comprehensive cancer center, Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center is designated by the National Cancer Institute, one of a select few and the only one in New York State, outside of New York City.
- John R. Oishei Children’s Hospital provides pediatric and subspecialty care to infants, children, teens, and young adults up to age 21 in one of the only freestanding children's hospitals in New York State.
- UBMD Pediatrics, the largest pediatric specialist group in the region, is affiliated with the State University of New York at Buffalo and offers additional subspecialty pediatric expertise on the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus.
The latest treatment advances
We offer treatments at the forefront of pediatric cancer care, plus clinicians with the knowledge and experience to use them. Our young patients with cancer or blood disorders may require treatment unavailable from other providers, including:
- Clinical trials of the latest promising treatments such as the SurVaxM vaccine for high grade brain tumors such as glioblastoma and medulloblastoma, new immunotherapy agents, cellular therapies and other novel options.
- Blood, bone marrow or stem cell transplant for children of all ages
- CAR T-cell therapies, including Kymriah.
- Sickle cell therapy including hydroxyurea treatment, chronic transfusion therapy and erythrocytapheresis, and newly FDA-approved infusions to reduce frequency of painful crises. We are the only facility in Western New York that performs outpatient erythrocytapheresis.
- Gamma Knife radiosurgery for treatment of certain brain tumors or metastatic disease.
Our internationally recognized team
Our accomplished physicians are leaders in the field and renowned for their work in developing new clinical trials to bring latest treatment approaches to the patients who need them now. Our physicians are international experts in the field, and hold leadership roles in the Children’s Oncology Group, American Society of Hematology, and National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN).
- Kara Kelly, MD, Chair of the Department of Pediatric Oncology, is an international expert in Hodgkin lymphoma and renowned for conducting clinical trials that are leading to practice-changing treatments including FDA approval of new immunotherapy agents.
- Clare Twist, MD, is internationally recognized in the treatment of children with neuroblastoma and serves on the NCCN neuroblastoma panel. She is the study chair of a national multicenter trial of SurVaxM, a treatment vaccine for brain tumors developed at Roswell Park.
- Steven Ambrusko, MD, MS, is the premier expert on pediatric sickle cell disease, thalassemias and hemoglobinopathies. He is also the Director of the Sickle Cell and Hemoglobinopathy Center of WNY.
- Dheerendra Prasad, MD, MCho, FACRO, Director of the Gamma Knife Center at Roswell Park, is among the top three most experienced Gamma Knife experts in the world, having performed more than 12,000 radiosurgery procedures himself, and has traveled to 68 centers worldwide to train providers and share his expertise and best practices.
State-of-the-art care centers
Our modern facilities, physically linked for easy travel between the two institutions, were designed specifically for your child’s needs and to bring comfort and support, providing a caring environment for activities, social time or quiet rest.
- Inpatient care is provided at the John R. Oishei Children’s Hospital which opened in 2017.
- Outpatient care is provided in Roswell Park’s Katherine, Anne and Donna Gioia Pediatric Hematology Oncology Outpatient Center which opened in 2017.
- Specialized outpatient care in neuro-oncology, neurofibromatosis and vascular anomalies is provided in conjunction with other pediatric subspecialty providers at the Oishei Children’s Outpatient Center at the Conventus building next door on High Street.
Comprehensive and integrated care
We care for your child and your family and not just the disease. We know the challenges you face and seek to ease this burden by integrating clinical and support services to help your family cope and thrive, including care that involves:
- Pediatric psychologists, social workers, child life specialists and more.
- Art and music, and pet therapy programs
- Integrative medicine program
- Young Adult Program to address the unique challenges of having cancer during your 20s and 30s.
- Events and outings such as hockey and ball games, movies, performing arts, sibling events, teen prom and more.
- Survivorship care for life.