Dr. Irmel A. Ayala

Dr. Metts specializes in pediatric hematology/oncology in the Johns Hopkins All Children's Cancer & Blood Disorders Institute. He sees patients on our main campus in St. Petersburg and at the Johns Hopkins All Children’s Outpatient Care Center in Tampa. He joined the hospital in 2016. He received his medical degree from the University of South Carolina School of Medicine and completed an internship and residency in pediatrics at Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital through the University of South Florida Morsani School of Medicine. Dr. Metts then trained at Emory University School of Medicine as a pediatric hematology/oncology fellow. His clinical interests include sarcomas, rare solid tumors, and Phase 1 and Phase 2 trials for pediatric solid tumors. Dr. Metts is rated as a Distinguished provider by MediFind in the treatment of Immune Thrombocytopenic Purpura (ITP). His top areas of expertise are Osteosarcoma, Ewing Sarcoma, Rhabdomyosarcoma, and Adult Soft Tissue Sarcoma.

Dr. Mayer is a pediatric hematologist-oncologist in the Johns Hopkins All Children’s Cancer & Blood Disorders Institute. She specializes in the diagnosis and management of patients with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), acute myeloid leukemia (AML), chronic myeloid leukemia (CML), Hodgkin lymphoma and non-Hodgkin lymphoma. She is also the medical director of the Vascular Anomalies and Birthmarks Program at the hospital. She cares for patients with benign and aggressive vascular tumors, lymphatic and venous malformations, and overgrowth syndromes. She was named the William A. Baumgartner Physician of the Year for Johns Hopkins All Children's in the 2024 Johns Hopkins Medicine Clinical Awards. She previously received the hospital’s Best Consulting Physician Award in 2017. Dr. Mayer is the author of more than 30 publications and two textbook chapters. She has presented over 22 research abstracts at national and international medical conferences. She is program director of a three-year fellowship training program in pediatric hematology-oncology on the St. Petersburg, Florida, campus. Dr. Mayer joined Johns Hopkins All Children’s in 1996. Dr. Mayer received her medical degree with honors from Dartmouth Medical School in New Hampshire. She completed her pediatric residency, hematology-oncology fellowship, and clinical research fellowship at Yale University School of Medicine in Connecticut. She is a fellow of the American Academy of Pediatrics and an active member and clinical researcher with Children’s Oncology Group, American Society of Pediatric Hematology-Oncology, and the International Society for the Study of Vascular Anomalies. Dr. Mayer is rated as an Experienced provider by MediFind in the treatment of Immune Thrombocytopenic Purpura (ITP). Her top areas of expertise are Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL), Evans Syndrome, Acute Monoblastic Leukemia (AmoL), and Teratoma of the Mediastinum.

Dr. New is the director of the Sickle Cell Disease Program in the Johns Hopkins All Children’s Cancer & Blood Disorders Institute. She joined the hospital staff in 2023. She was previously a hematologist-oncologist at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, where she most recently served as director of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion and clinical director of the Egleston Sickle Cell Program in the Aflac Cancer and Blood Disorders Center. Before that she was the Egleston hospital’s section chief of hematology-oncology and clinical director in the Aflac Cancer and Blood Disorders Center in Egleston. She was also associate professor of pediatrics at Emory Pediatric Institute. Dr. New has published numerous peer-reviewed articles and book chapters and has given many talks internationally, nationally and regionally. Her research interests include recruitment for multi-center trials in sickle cell, as well as global initiatives in sickle cell disease service, education and awareness. Dr. New earned her medical degree from Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York. She completed her pediatric internship and residency at University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey-Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in New Brunswick, New Jersey. She then completed a fellowship in pediatric hematology-oncology at Columbia University/New York Presbyterian Medical Center. Dr. New is rated as an Advanced provider by MediFind in the treatment of Immune Thrombocytopenic Purpura (ITP). Her top areas of expertise are Sickle Cell Disease, Congenital Hemolytic Anemia, Hemoglobinopathy, and Hemolytic Anemia.