The Division of Hematology and Oncology offers exposure to the full spectrum of blood disorders and malignancies of childhood. Residents play an active role in the diagnosis and therapeutic management of children hospitalized because of hematologic and oncologic diseases. A one-month rotation on the service is included in the second year of residency training and additional months are offered as elective.

Approximately 80 hematology-oncology patients are seen each week in the outpatient department. There are generally 15 patients hospitalized on the general hematology and oncology ward and additional patients hospitalized in the specialized pediatric bone marrow transplant unit. A wide variety of disorders are represented in this population including hemolytic anemia, thalassemia, sickle cell disease, thrombocytopenia, neutropenia, hemophilia, aplastic anemia, as well as all of the hematologic and solid tumor malignancies of childhood. The division directs a specialized center for hemophilia and currently follows more than 300 patients who reside in Iowa and western Illinois.

As a member of the Children's Oncology Group, the division participates in a wide variety of national collaborative studies for pediatric patients with malignant disease.

The division directs and coordinates all of the pediatric bone marrow transplant activities on an inpatient unit dedicated exclusively to pediatric bone marrow transplantation. The primary interest of the division is in the use of peripheral blood stem cell transplants. The unit is staffed with attending physicians, clinical nurse practitioners, and physician assistants, but residents have the opportunity, on an elective basis, to rotate on the unit.

Rheumatology is a sub-section of the Division of Hematology/Oncology. Weekly clinic, teaching conferences, and inpatient consults provide an introduction to the rheumatic diseases of childhood. The rheumatology outpatient clinic experience provides exposure to patients with juvenile rheumatoid arthritis, systemic lupus erythematosus, spondylitis, dermatomyositis and other immune mediated disorders.

Basic research programs in transitional research, neuro-oncology, the immunobiology of malignant disease, the developmental biology of extracellular matrix in hematopoiesis, modifications of tumor cell membranes to enhance chemotherapy, the molecular basis of von Willebrand’s disease, signal transduction in T cells and the genetic basis of autoimmune disease are being actively pursued by various members of the division.

The fellowship program in pediatric hematology-oncology offers clinical training, as well as general laboratory and blood banking experience, satisfying the criteria for sub-board certification. The program is focused on development of academic pediatric hematologists and oncologists and, therefore, provides for the development of basic research skills during the final two years.

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Division of Pediatric Hematology, Oncology, Immunology, and Rheumatology

An inpatient wing of the University of Iowa Children's Hospital