Dr. Stacy Cooper is the Director of the Pediatric Hematologic Malignancy Program, Director of the Pediatric Hematology/Oncology Fellowship Program, and Clinical Director of the Pediatric Oncology Inpatient Program at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. Dr. Cooper received her undergraduate degree in Biology and Spanish at the University of Notre Dame. She earned her M.D. at SUNY Upstate Medical University. She completed her general pediatric residency and chief residency at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. She completed her pediatric hematology-oncology fellowship with the Johns Hopkins-National Institutes of Health. Dr. Cooper joined the Johns Hopkins faculty in 2015. Her research focuses on clinical research in acute lymphoblastic leukemia, as well as medical education scholarship related to fellowship training. Dr. Cooper is a member of the American Board of Pediatrics, the American Society of Hematology, the American Society of Pediatric Hematology Oncology and the Association of Pediatric Program Directors. Dr. Cooper is highly rated in 3 conditions, according to our data. Her top areas of expertise are Classical Hodgkin Lymphoma, Hodgkin Lymphoma, Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL), Leukemia, and Bone Marrow Transplant.

"In her first decade as a pediatric oncologist, Dr. Symons already has shown an impressive ability to juggle multiple research projects, in addition to caring for patients. One of Dr. Symons' research pursuits focuses on using a novel immunotherapy approach to treating both solid tumors and hematologic (blood-borne) malignancies. The basis of her work stems from the theory that cancer patients' immune systems should recognize tumor cells as foreign and destroy them. This doesn't happen, theorizes Dr. Symons, because the immune system attacks only those cells it perceives as dangerous—not cancer cells, which it sees simply as foreign. That's where her research comes into play. Evaluating an experimental therapy, Dr. Symons is pairing donor lymphocytes (white blood cells that activate the body's immune system) with chemotherapy to determine if this combination will ""awaken"" patients' immune systems to the danger of existing cancer cells and, in turn, elicit an immune response. In a separate yet equally compelling research endeavor, Dr. Symons is working to increase the availability of donors for children whose cancer requires bone marrow transplants (BMTs) as a potentially lifesaving treatment. ""It can be challenging to find a 'matched' donor,"" says Dr. Symons, who explains that only about 40 percent of patients who require a BMT find a matched donor. ""Sometimes, we don't have the benefit of time, because remissions can be short-lived. But almost all patients have a half-matched donor: a parent, sibling, or child,"" adds Dr. Symons, who is examining ways to reduce BMT-related complications ordinarily associated with half-matched donors after ablative (high dose) chemotherapy. ""Like anything else that's new, it will take some time to prove that this is a feasible option that's safe,"" she says. But she's optimistic. ""It has the potential to revolutionize BMT."" Dr. Symons knows it's worth the wait. ""Seeing the research I do in the lab translate into clinical trials, then seeing patients in these trials survive long term, is incredibly rewarding,"" she says.". Dr. Symons is highly rated in 2 conditions, according to our data. Her top areas of expertise are Graft Versus Host Disease (GvHD), Aplastic Anemia, Anemia, Leukemia, and Bone Marrow Transplant.

Dr. Donald Small is the Kyle Haydock Professor of Oncology. He holds joint appointments in Pediatrics and Cellular and Molecular Medicine and Human Genetics. He also directs the Johns Hopkins/National Cancer Institute Pediatric Hematology/Oncology Fellowship program. Dr. Small received his undergraduate, and then M.D. and Ph.D. degrees from the Johns Hopkins University in 1979 and 1985. His Ph.D. research was conducted with Bert Vogelstein in the Oncology Department and his postdoctoral research with Tom Kelly in the Molecular Biology and Genetics Department. He trained in pediatrics and pediatric hematology/oncology at Johns Hopkins and joined the faculty in 1990. Dr. Small’s laboratory was the first to clone the human FLT3 gene that is the most frequently mutated gene in acute myeloid leukemia (AML) and results in very poor chances of cure for these patients. The investigations of FLT3 led Dr. Small and his team to discover drugs able to inhibit the cancer-generating activity of this important gene. His laboratory showed that a new class of drugs known as tyrosine kinase inhibitors could kill FLT3-affected cells, thus developing one of the earliest molecularly targeted cancer therapies. They then developed a test that enabled them to screen a host of additional kinase inhibitors and find several with great potency against FLT3. His group also led the first clinical trials investigating the use of a FLT3 inhibitor in adult relapsed and refractory FLT3 mutant AML, and determined how best to combine these drugs with chemotherapy. They also helped design the first pediatric trials of FLT3 inhibitors in pediatric AML and infant ALL. Dr. Small’s lab continues to investigate leukemic processes and the role of stem cells in governing the activities of the FLT3 gene in leukemia. Dr. Small is highly rated in 2 conditions, according to our data. His top areas of expertise are Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML), Leukemia, Acute Promyelocytic Leukemia, and Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL).

Yang Ding is a Pediatrics specialist and a Pediatric Hematologist Oncology provider in Baltimore, Maryland. Dr. Ding is highly rated in 1 condition, according to our data. Her top areas of expertise are Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL), Leukemia, Neuroblastoma, and Langerhans Cell Histiocytosis.

Dr. Resar's studies molecular mechanisms leading to cancer, blood diseases, sickle cell anemia, hemophilia and other coagulopathies. Her research focuses on the HMG-I/Y gene family, which is widely overexpressed and functions as oncogenes in human cancers. Her laboratory recently developed transgenic mice overexpressing HMG-I; all mice develop aggressive lymphoid malignancy similar to leukemia and lymphoma in humans. Her studies also demonstrate that this gene is overexpressed in human lymphoid and other malignancies. Translational studies are underway to determine if overexpression of HMG-I is a marker for more aggressive human cancers. Resar's long-term goal is to develop more rational therapies that interfere with HMG-I/Y function in neoplastic transformation. Her top areas of expertise are Anemia, Sickle Cell Disease, and Immune Thrombocytopenic Purpura (ITP).

Dr. Friedman is the King Fahd Professor of Oncology and Professor of Pediatrics at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and a member of the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center. He received his M.D. from the Harvard Medical School (1983), did his pediatric internship and residency at Boston Children's Hospital (1983-86), and completed a fellowship in pediatric hematology-oncology at Johns Hopkins (1986-89). As a fellow, he did post-doctoral research at the Carnegie Institution Department of Embryology located on the Johns Hopkins Homewood campus. Dr. Friedman has served on the Pediatric Oncology faculty at Johns Hopkins since 1989. His laboratory focuses on investigation of normal and abnormal blood-cell formation. Dr. Friedman also cares for children with cancer, specializing in the treatment of leukemia. His top areas of expertise are Leukemia, Glioma, Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL), and Neuroblastoma.

Dr. Koldobskiy is an Assistant Professor of Pediatric Oncology and Pediatric Neuro-Oncology at the Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center. He received his B.S. and M.S. from Yale University and M.D./Ph.D. in the Medical Scientist Training Program at Johns Hopkins, conducting his thesis research with Dr. Solomon Snyder in Pharmacology and Molecular Sciences. He completed his Pediatrics residency training at Johns Hopkins and his Pediatric Hematology and Oncology fellowship training in the joint Johns Hopkins/National Institutes of Health program. He studies epigenetic variability in childhood cancer. His top areas of expertise are Leukemia, Glioma, Teratoma of the Mediastinum, and Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL).

Ronald Kline is a Pediatric Hematologist Oncology provider in Baltimore, Maryland. His top areas of expertise are Acute Megakaryoblastic Leukemia and Immune Thrombocytopenic Purpura (ITP).

Francis Mussai is a Pediatric Hematologist Oncology provider in Baltimore, Maryland. His top areas of expertise are Embryonal Tumor with Multilayered Rosettes, Neuroblastoma, Leukemia, and Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL).

Kathryn Duke is a Pediatric Hematologist Oncology provider in Baltimore, Maryland. Her top area of expertise is Immune Thrombocytopenic Purpura (ITP).