Do you envision finding a meaningful role with an inclusive and compassionate team? At Children’s Mercy, we believe in making a difference in the lives of all children and shining a light of hope to the patients and families we serve. Our employees make the difference, which is why we have been recognized by U.S. News & World Report as a top pediatric hospital, for eleven consecutive years.
Children’s Mercy is in the heart of Kansas City – a metro abounding in cultural experiences, vibrant communities and thriving businesses. This is where our patients and families live, work and play. This is a community that has embraced our hospital and we strive to say thanks by giving back. As a leader in children’s health, we engage in meaningful programs and partnerships throughout the region so that we can improve the lives of children beyond the walls of our hospital.
The Department of Pediatrics at Children’s Mercy (CM) seeks to recruit a creative and scholarly leader to serve as Director of our comprehensive, academic Division of Hematology/Oncology/Bone Marrow Transplant (H/O/BMT). The Division Director will be an influential connector to bridge the Division’s successes of the past and present with the possibilities that await its future. The Division is extremely well positioned for the next Director to continue its rising trajectory and forge a bold vision for the years to follow.
The incoming physician leader will embody the Children’s Mercy vision “to create a world of wellbeing for all children” by embracing our values of kindness, curiosity, inclusion, team and integrity in a way that represents an uncompromised commitment to excellence. This exceptional physician leader will be responsible for leadership, strategy, oversight and vision for the Division of H/O/BMT ensuring alignment with the goals and objectives of the hospital and its partners.
A major area of emphasis for the next Division Director will be to build and integrate research activities into a clinically busy program. The Division Director will advance the academic growth of the faculty, recruit aspiring investigators and foster an environment that encourages world class clinical care and new discoveries that advance the field. The Director will facilitate increased connections with the Children’s Mercy Research Institute (CMRI) and regional research institutions to collaborate on innovative basic and translational research to truly advance the field. Children’s Mercy is the pediatric partner in the NCI-designated Kansas University Comprehensive Cancer Center (KUCCC) and has active research collaborations with the KUCCC and the Stowers Institute for Medical Research. Within CM, H/O/BMT partners with both the Clinical Genetics and Genomics Laboratory (Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, DPLM) and the Genomic Medicine Center (GMC), providing cutting edge cancer genomic sequencing for clinical and research applications, respectively. Routine management of all newly diagnosed patients with cancer includes clinical tumor and germline DNA sequencing (deep exome) using state-of-the-art short-read sequencing on the Illumina NovaSeqX platform in the GMC. Other molecular testing (e.g., cytogenetics, clinical microarray, optical mapping, etc.) is performed by the DPLM. Molecular diagnostic findings and follow-up are discussed in regular Molecular Tumor Board meetings attended by both pathologists and oncologists. Research molecular characterization of biobanked tumor and germline specimens includes advanced sequencing technologies (e.g. long-read read 5-base sequencing, single-cell sequencing, RNA-seq, etc.). The GMC offers world-leading expertise in long-read sequencing with nearly 2,000 human genomes sequenced by 5-mC-HiFi-GS (Pacific Biosciences), including >100 cancer patients with the high-throughput Revio platform, with an in-house annual capacity of 4,000 HiFi-GS runs.
Immunotherapeutics and cellular therapy are also significant opportunities for research and programmatic development. Our vision to lead in the field influenced the construction of a GMP facility in the Children’s Mercy Research Institute building that opened in the fall of 2020. We aim to expand discoveries from the immunotherapeutics program towards improved cancer treatments and refined management of both solid organ transplantation and diseases of immunologic origin.
It is intended that the new Division Director will hold a newly endowed chair created by donor intent specifically for the Division Director. Other endowed chairs are available to the Director to recruit accomplished scientists to the Division and thereby expand the division’s research enterprise.
The foremost qualities necessary for this position are a compelling vision for the field of H/O/BMT and a track record of academic achievement evidenced by sustained extramural funding. The Division of H/O/BMT is at an inflection point and the next Director will have the opportunity to set a trajectory that establishes our division as a national leader in H/O/BMT. Other desired characteristics include a track record of successful associations with NCI Comprehensive Cancer Centers and a commitment to advancing a culture of high accountability and collaboration. The individual selected for this position will be a strategic and highly communicative leader who holds MD, DO or MD/PhD credentials and who is board certified in H/O/BMT.
General Information. The Division of Hematology/Oncology/BMT is divided into 3 respective sections – Hematology, Oncology, and BMT, with supporting H/O/BMT Hospitalists. Clinical care and case management are also provided by outpatient advanced practice providers (APPs) who are specialized within each of the 3 groups (H/O/BMT). Robust social work resources are present to partner with physicians and APPs to support the patient and their family. The Division has a long-standing fellowship in H/O/BMT and a fourth year fellowship in Pediatric Coagulation. A fourth year research fellowship is also available for fellows committed to a research intensive career path.
Each section led by a Section Chief who directs programmatic efforts in the four academic domains. The Hematology Section has active programs in coagulation, sickle cell and general hematology. The Kansas City Regional Hemophilia Treatment Center is among the 5 largest in the country and is a 340B program. The Comprehensive Sickle Cell Program cares for over 300 children, and our hematologists oversee the Anticoagulation Management Team and the Coagulation Consult Service, staff the Vascular Anomalies Specialty Clinic, and co-direct the Pediatric Stroke team.
The Oncology Section has programs focused on specific cancers, patient populations & diagnostics, and therapeutics. Faculty (MD/DO/PhD) within and outside the Division have a growing presence in cancer research with current focus and grant support in cancer genomics, cancer biology, experimental therapeutics, immunotherapeutics and the impact of ethnic diversity on treatment outcomes. CM is an active COG institution and a member of the COG Pediatric Early Phase-Clinical Trial Network (PEP-CTN).
Our Blood & Marrow Transplantation/Cellular Therapy Section is both FACT- and COG-accredited, and we are a regional referral center for BMT of off-trial patients. The program shares a stem cell processing lab with the KUCCC adult BMT program, one of the largest in the country. The lab is capable in all stem cell source transplants including related, unrelated, matched, mismatched, T-cell depleted, haplo-identical, bone marrow, peripheral blood and umbilical cord blood. Building on the early cellular therapy discovery efforts at CM, the program can perform complicated graft manipulation for either clinical or research endeavors.
Further details for all aspects of the Division can be found on the CMH H/O/BMT webpages which includes over 10 years of Cancer Center Annual reports: http://tinyurl.com/CancerCtr-annual-report.
About Children’s Mercy
Children’s Mercy is a nationally recognized, free-standing children’s hospital founded in 1897 to provide care for poor and ill children of Kansas City. As a freestanding, independent children’s hospital, CM provides comprehensive pediatric care across the spectrum of primary to quaternary care delivered by 750 doctors in more than 40 subspecialties. Our primary service area encompasses 150 counties in Missouri and Kansas. In 2023, CM conducted nearly 600,000 total visits, including 55,000 telemedicine visits, almost 204,000 emergency and urgent care visits, and 20,000 surgical cases. CM is one of only ten centers in the nation verified as a Level 1 Children’s Surgery Center by the American College of Surgeons and the only pediatric Level I Trauma Center in the region. CM has been ranked consistently by U.S. News & World Report in the top 50 of all ten assessed pediatric subspecialties. We enthusiastically complement our nationally-ranked subspecialty care with robust community support programs that keep kids safe and healthy.
Education
CM is the pediatric clerkship site for both UMKC and KU medical students. Graduate medical education supports over 1,400 trainees annually, with accredited residencies in pediatrics, med/peds, child neurology, pediatric dentistry, pediatric optometry and pharmacy. We have over 40 fellowship programs, provide training for psychology interns and post-doctoral fellows, and have post-doctoral PhD scientists in clinical and laboratory-based research programs.
Research
Children’s Mercy is dedicated to improving the health and well-being of children through engagement in world-class, collaborative translation research. Through the generosity of two substantial philanthropic gifts, in 2020 CM opened a nine story, 375,000 square foot facility providing scientists access to state-of-the-art technology with ample dry and wet lab spaces. These generous gifts and many others support enhancement of scientific programs and targeted recruitment. Research conducted today includes basic, translational and clinical research across many pediatric subspecialties. Areas of strength include Precision Therapeutics, Genomic Medicine, Population Health, Emerging Infections, and Innovations in Health Care Delivery. CM holds a T32 training grant in Pediatric Clinical Pharmacology and is an impactful member of the Frontiers Clinical and Translational Science Institute (CTSI) at the University of Kansas. This regional CTSI program comprises four universities (including three medical schools) and three health systems on both sides of the Missouri-Kansas state line.
About Kansas City:
The Kansas City Metropolitan Area is an affordable and comfortable place to live and raise a family. The metro’s anchor city, Kansas City, Missouri, is the largest city in Missouri and has many great museums, a busy downtown, multiple professional sports franchises, an exciting music scene and many charming neighborhoods. The metro area includes four of the seven largest cities in Kansas, including Kansas City (Kansas), Overland Park and Olathe. Kansas City is large enough to provide the features of a metropolitan area, but still allows for easy commutes, assessable amenities and a very high quality of life with highly ranked public schools, great parks and other green spaces, and lots of amazing people.
Ideal Qualifications and Experience
This is a clinical faculty position offering an academic appointment at the University of Missouri – Kansas City School of Medicine, rank to be commensurate with experience. CM is an Equal Opportunity Employer. The H/O/BMT Division Director reports to the Chair of Pediatrics. We are committed to increasing the diversity of our faculty and staff and fostering their success when hired. Members of underrepresented groups are welcome and strongly encouraged to apply. For additional information, please visit our website at www.cmh.edu.
Nominations and applications (cover letter and curriculum vitae) should be submitted via e-mail to the Search Committee Co-Chairs:
Dr. Tarak Srivastava (tsrivastava@cmh.edu)
Dr. Sherwin Chan (sschan@cmh.edu)
CC to physicianjobs@cmh.edu
All materials will be treated as confidential.
Children’s Mercy hires individuals based on their job skills, expertise and ability to maintain professional relationships with fellow employees, patients, parents and visitors. A personal interview, formal education and training, previous work experience, references and a criminal background investigation all are factors used to select the best candidates. The hospital does not discriminate against prospective or current employees based on the race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability, creed, genetic information, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, ancestry or veteran status. A drug screen will be performed upon hire. Children’s Mercy is smoke and tobacco free.
CM is committed to creating a diverse and inclusive workforce. Our patients and families come from all walks of life, and so do we. We know that our greatest strengths come from the people who make up our team so we hire great people from a wide variety of backgrounds, not just because it’s the right thing to do, but because it makes our hospital stronger and our patient care more compassionate. If you share our values and our enthusiasm for service, you will find a home at CM. In recruiting for our team, we welcome the unique contributions that you can bring, including education, ideas, culture, ethnicity, race, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, national origin, age, languages spoken, veteran status, color, religion, disability and beliefs.
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