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Pediatric BMT ‘make it happen’
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by Dawn Brazell
Public Relations
Michelle Hudspeth, M.D., figures her pediatric blood and marrow
transplant division is doing something right.
Since 2007, it has more than tripled the number of pediatric
transplants, with four pediatric transplants being done in 2006 as
compared to 23 in 2007. The program is within the top third of programs
within the Pediatric Blood and Marrow Transplant Consortium in terms of
volume, and the search time for unrelated donors through the National
Marrow Donor Program is well below the national average.
Hudspeth said her goal when she came to MUSC in 2007 was to build the
program and offer the best care for children in the state and the
Southeast.
“This has been possible because the program motto has become ‘make it
happen.’ Every single patient is a top priority, and we work
hand-in-hand with the families and referring physicians.
Referring physicians have my cell phone for easy access and receive
weekly e-mails with patient updates.”
Hudspeth, who is division director of pediatric hematology/oncology,
said that she chose her specialty because she loves working with
children.
“I always knew I wanted to do pediatric oncology, but early on in
residency I fell in love with the immunology, the complexity, and the
challenge of blood and marrow transplantation. Blood and marrow
transplantation is about making the impossible possible.”
She sees the field continuing to expand with the increased use of
unrelated donor transplantation to cure sickle cell disease; the
increased use of cellular therapies after transplant for residual
disease; and the combination of haploidentical bone marrow transplant
with solid organ transplant to eliminate the need for life-long
immunosuppressive medications.
Beyond the research and medical advances that help drive the success of
the program, the other important piece of why MUSC’s program is doing
so well is the bone marrow transplant coordinators and data managers,
who are the best in the country and are the heart and soul of the
program, she said.
“If it takes a village to raise a child, it takes several villages to
get a child to transplant. We have a tremendous commitment from
across the institution—radiation oncology, hematopathology, blood bank
and cryopreservation, HLA lab, PICU just to name a few—who make sure
the focus is always where it should be, on the patient.”
Friday, June 11, 2010
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