About the Program
Your child will receive care from many of the world’s most experienced pediatric brain tumor doctors at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute as well as internationally recognized pediatric subspecialists at Boston Children’s Hospital.
- Our dedicated neuropathologist provides a quick and accurate diagnosis, helping us tailor treatment to your child’s exact type of tumor.
- Our pediatric neurosurgeons have one of the nation’s few operating rooms that includes an MRI, which means they can simultaneously perform surgery and obtain detailed images to ensure maximum removal of your child’s tumor.
- Specialized equipment allows our pediatric radiation oncologist to minimize exposure by targeting radiation doses at the tumor, avoiding healthy brain tissue. We also have access to the Northeast Proton Beam Center.
- We use innovative chemotherapy delivery techniques that may minimize your child’s hospital admissions, and we offer unique treatment options through our extensive clinical trial program.
- Our survivorship experts manage the Stop & Shop Family Pediatric Neuro-Oncology Outcomes Clinic, a special program for survivors of childhood brain tumors.
The Pediatric Brain Tumor Program cares for children with many different types of brain and spinal tumors:
Our Treatment Approach
If your child has been diagnosed with a brain tumor, it is important to understand that brain tumors typically do not appear in the same way in children as they do in adults. Also, because children’s brains are rapidly developing, they need treatments from specialists familiar with the complexities of pediatric brain tumors.
The outlook for children with brain tumors has brightened significantly in the past two decades. Thanks to refined surgical techniques and improved chemotherapy and radiation therapy, the majority of children with brain and spinal cord tumors are now long-term survivors.
At the Pediatric Brain Tumor Program, our team works to develop care plans that maximize outcomes and offer your child the highest possible quality of life after treatment.
Children treated at the Pediatric Brain Tumor Program receive comprehensive care services and have access to some of the most advanced diagnostics and therapies, including:
- quick and accurate diagnosis from our dedicated pediatric neuropathologist
- access to advanced technologies like the intraoperative MRI, which allows our neurosurgeons to simultaneously perform surgery and obtain detailed images to ensure maximum tumor removal without the need for multiple surgeries
- advanced pediatric radiation oncology services, including targeted radiosurgery and low-dose radiation therapy, that minimize a child’s exposure to radiation
- access to New England’s only dedicated pediatric Positron Emission Tomography (PET) scan as well as to PET fusion imaging, which provides precise anatomical and functional images to help guide our treatment decisions
- chemotherapy delivery techniques that minimize hospital admissions, including outpatient and oral chemotherapy and direct delivery into the tumor site
The most effective pediatric brain tumor care teams are familiar with the complexities of pediatric brain tumors and the treatment challenges they present. Your child’s core team will include the following specialists:
- pediatric neurologist
- pediatric neuro-oncologist
- pediatric neurosurgeon
- pediatric radiation oncologist
In addition, your child’s cancer care team will draw on the expertise and knowledge of a variety of subspecialists and support staff including:
- radiologists
- physical and occupational therapists
- pediatric nurses
- endocrinologists
- psychologists and psychiatrists
- audiologist
- ophthalmologists
- Child Life specialists
- social workers
- nutritionists
- complementary medicine specialists
- school specialists
We consider you and your child integral parts of the care team and not simply recipients of care. You and your team will work together to customize a plan of care for your child.
Survivorship clinic
The majority of children and adolescents diagnosed with pediatric brain tumors will survive into adulthood. However, both the tumors and their treatments have potential for long-term side effects, and patients may face physical, psychological, social, and intellectual challenges that will require ongoing assessment and specialized care.
To address the needs of this growing community of brain tumor survivors, Dana-Farber/Boston Children's Cancer and Blood Disorders Center established the Stop & Shop Family Pediatric Neuro-Oncology Outcomes Clinic to provide fully coordinated follow-up care for patients.
Today, the Outcomes Clinic follows more than 1,000 pediatric brain tumor survivors of all ages, a multi-disciplinary program designed to address long-term health and social issues for families and survivors of childhood brain tumors. Some of the post-treatment services provided by the Outcomes Clinic include:
- MRI scans to monitor for tumor recurrence
- intellectual function evaluation
- endocrine evaluation and treatment
- neurologic assessment
- psychosocial care
- hearing, vision monitoring
- ovarian dysfunction evaluation and treatment
- motor function evaluation and physical therapy
- complementary medicine
- fertility screening
As a result of treatment, children may experience changes in intellectual and motor function. Among several programs addressing these needs are the School Liaison Program and Back to School Program, which provide individualized services to ease children's return to school and maximize their ability to learn.
The Treatment Team
Our staff of compassionate and experienced pediatric subspecialists includes neuro-oncologists, neurosurgeons, neurologists, radiation oncologists, radiologists, neuropathologists, psychologists, and neuropsychologists.
Our physicians are focused on family-centered care: from your first visit, you’ll work with a team of professionals who are committed to supporting all of your family’s physical and psychosocial needs.
- Mark W. Kieran, MD, PhD, Director, Pediatric Brain Tumor Program
Dr. Kieran is the director of the Pediatric Brain Tumor Program. A pediatric neuro-oncologist by training, he specializes in the treatment of a wide variety of brain tumors in children. In addition, he oversees laboratory research on the classification and treatment of brain tumors. He is an associate professor in Pediatrics at Harvard Medical School.
- Susan N. Chi, MD
Dr. Chi is a pediatric neuro-oncologist specializing in the treatment of brain tumors including medulloblastoma, ependymoma, and atypical teratoid rhabdoid tumor. She is also the director of the Pediatric Brain Tumor Clinical Trials Program and an assistant professor in Pediatrics at Harvard Medical School.
- Peter Manley, MD
Dr. Manley is a pediatric neuro-oncologist and the director of the Pediatric Neuro-Oncology Outcomes Clinic. He is also an instructor in Pediatrics at Harvard Medical School.
- Nathan Robison, MD
Dr. Robison is a pediatric neuro-oncologist and attending physician at Dana-Farber/Children’s Hospital Cancer Center. He is the Director of Outpatient Clinical Services. He is an instructor at the Harvard Medical School.
- Christine Chordas, MSN, CPNP, RN
Ms. Chordas is a nurse practitioner caring for children with brain and spinal cord tumors at Dana-Farber/Boston Children’s. She specializes in the care of survivors of childhood brain tumors
- Mary Ann Zimmerman, MSN, CPNP, RN
Ms. Zimmerman is a nurse practitioner caring for children with brain and spinal cord tumors at Dana-Farber/Boston Children’s. She specializies in the out patient care of children on treatment protocols.
- Katherine Sheehan MSN, CPNP, RN
Ms. Sheehan is a nurse practitioner caring for children with brain and spinal cord tumors on the neuro-oncology in patient unit at Boston Children’s Hospital.
- R. Michael Scott, MD
Dr. Scott is a pediatric neurosurgeon at Boston Children’s Hospital and a professor of Neurosurgery at Harvard Medical School. In addition, Dr. Scott is past chairman and current advisory board member of the American Board of Pediatric Neurological Surgery. His current research focuses on the treatment of moyamoya syndrome in children.
- Liliana Goumnerova, MD
Dr. Goumnerova is a pediatric neurosurgeon specializing in the treatment of brain tumors and spinal column tumors as well as other conditions of the central nervous system. Her research focuses on neural development and the formation of tumors. She is an associate professor at Harvard Medical School.
- Joseph R. Madsen, MD
Dr. Madsen is a pediatric neurosurgeon who specializes in the treatment of congenital malformations, epilepsy, and hydrocephalus. He is also the director of the Epilepsy Surgery Program and an associate professor at Harvard Medical School. His research focuses on improving the treatment for epilepsy, hydrocephalus, and other neurological conditions.
- Mark R. Proctor, MD
Dr. Proctor is a pediatric neurosurgeon with expertise in the treatment of brain tumors, vascular abnormalities, congenital disorders of the central nervous system, and other neurological disorders. He also specializes in the treatment of spine and craniofacial abnormalities. He is an associate professor at Harvard Medical School.
- Edward Robert Smith, MD
Dr. Smith is a pediatric neurosurgeon specializing in the treatment of brain tumors, hydrocephalus, moyamoya syndrome, and pediatric stroke. He is an assistant professor at Harvard Medical School. Smith studies the development of tests to better screen for the presence, recurrence, and progression of brain tumors and cerebrovascular disease.
- Benjamin Warf, MD
Dr. Warf is a pediatric neurosurgeon specializing in the treatment of brain tumors, congenital abnormalities, hydrocephalus, ventriculostomy/endoscopy. He is an associate professor of surgery at Harvard Medical School. One of Warf’s interests is hydrocephalus.
- Scott L. Pomeroy, MD, PhD
Dr. Pomeroy is Boston Children’s Hospital’s neurologist-in-chief and a professor of neurology at Harvard Medical School. He specializes in neuro-oncology and his research focuses on the genetic causes of medulloblastoma.
- Nicole Ullrich, MD, PhD
Dr. Ullrich is a pediatric neurologist with expertise in neuro-oncology and neurofibromatosis. She is an assistant professor of Neurology at Harvard Medical School.
- Karen J. Marcus, MD
Dr. Marcus specializes in pediatric oncology and radiation oncology. She treats children with a wide variety of cancers, including brain tumors, sarcomas, neuroblastoma, leukemias, kidney tumors, and Hodgkin lymphoma. She is also an associate professor at Harvard Medical School and co-chair of Pediatric Oncology Institutional Review Board.
- Alan R. Cohen, MD, FACS, FAAP
Dr. Cohen is the Neurosurgeon-in-Chief at Boston Children's Hospital and a world-renowned expert in minimally invasive neurosurgery. He serves as chairman of the American Association of Neurological Surgeons' Section on Pediatric Neurological Surgery and director of the American Board of Neurological Surgery and American Board of Pediatric Neurological Surgery. He received the Children's Miracle Network National Achievement Award for Outstanding Contributions to Patient Care.
- Shenandoah Robinson, MD, FAAP
Dr. Robinson is a pediatric neurosurgeon at Boston Children's Hospital and recent surgical director of the Pediatric Epilepsy Center at Rainbow Babies and Children's Hospital in Cleveland, Oh. She is one of the few neurosurgeons in the U.S. with proficiency in selective dorsal rhizotomy (SDR), a minimally invasive technique used to treat spasticity. Her NIH-funded research focuses on methods of brain protection in newborns.
- Brian Delaney, PsyD
Dr. Delaney is a psychologist at the Dana-Farber/Boston Children’s who sees pediatric neuro-oncology patients both on treatment and off treatment. He offers support groups for these patients and families. Delaney is an Instructor at the Harvard Medical School.
- Cori Liptak, PhD
Dr. Liptak is a psychologist at Dana-Farber/Boston Children’s who sees both on and off treatment patients with a specialization in survivorship issues of brain tumor patients. She is an instructor at the Harvard Medical School.
- Tanya M. Diver, PhD
Dr. Diver is a specialist in pediatric neuropsychology and an instructor at Harvard Medical School.
- Celiane M. Rey-Casserly, PhD
Dr. Rey-Casserly is a pediatric neuropsychology and the director of Boston Children’s Hospital’s Neuropsychology Program. She is also an assistant professor at Harvard Medical School.
- Marybeth Morris, EdM
Ms. Morris is a psychologist in the School Liaison Program at Dana-Farber/Boston Children’s.
- Lisa Northman, PhD
Dr. Northman is a psychologist in the School Liaison Program at Dana-Farber/Boston Children’s. She is an instructor at the Harvard Medical School.
Clinical Research
Our program offers unique access to a range of clinical trials in which your child can receive the newest brain tumor treatments. Through this research, our physicians work to improve current therapeutic approaches and outcomes for many hard-to-treat pediatric brain tumors.
Dana-Farber/Boston Children’s is the only center in New England that offers Phase I Children’s Oncology Group clinical trials. Our Center is also a member of the Pediatric Oncology Experimental Therapeutic Investigators Consortium and the Department of Defense Neurofibromatosis Clinical Trials Consortium.
We are consistently one of the most highly funded pediatric brain tumor research centers in the United States, and a major focus of the program is rapidly translating scientific discoveries to the bedside. Members of our brain tumor team:
- played a key role in the identification and application of antiangiogenic treatments for pediatric brain tumors
- launched new studies investigating gene profiling of patients’ tumors and the development of personalized treatment approaches
- pioneered the development of new treatments for specific highly malignant tumors such as Atypical Teratoid Rhabdoid Tumor (ATRT)
- developed new targeted therapies for diffuse intrinsic pontine gliomas
- created the only pediatric low-grade astrocytoma program
- perform molecular profiling of pediatric brain tumors for any patient
- are developing tissue registries to better classify and treat certain types of brain tumors
Clinical trials
Clinical trials are studies that evaluate the effectiveness of new interventions. There are different types of cancer clinical trials, such as prevention trials, early detection trials, and treatment trials.
The Pediatric Brain Tumor Program participates in several multi-center national clinical trials.
Contact Us
Referring physicians: 617-632-2680 or 1-888-Pedi-Onc (733-4662)
New patients and second opinions
We understand a cancer diagnosis is extremely difficult to cope with. We are always available to offer a consultation or second opinion for your child.
If your child has been diagnosed with a brain or spinal cord tumor, please contact our program at 888-PEDI-ONC (888-733-4662).
To help us conduct a precise evaluation, it is important we receive a full summary of your child's initial diagnosis.
Please have as much of the following information gathered as possible when you call or bring it with you to your appointment:
Patient summary
- your child’s date of birth
- your address
- parent or guardian contact information
- insurance information
Complete clinical summary
- physician's name and contact information
- diagnosis, or working diagnosis, and list of presenting symptoms
- MRI/CAT scan films
- pathology slides and reports
- operative note, if surgery was performed
- radiation therapeutic summary, if your child had radiation
- comprehensive list of previous chemotherapeutic agents, with dates and doses, if your child had chemotherapy
Mailing address
Dana-Farber Cancer Institute
Pediatric Neuro-Oncology
450 Brookline Ave., SW 331
Boston, MA 02215