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Informational Alert

Our new building on the hospital campus, Forest B, is open. Families and visitors can park in the new Forest B garage next to Emergency.

Meet the Team

Leadership

 

Mignon LohMignon Loh, MD

Dr. Mignon Loh is center director for the Ben Towne Center for Childhood Cancer Research and chief of the Division of Pediatric Hematology, Oncology, Bone Marrow Transplant and Cellular Therapy, overseeing the Cancer and Blood Disorders Center at Seattle Children’s Hospital. Her research focuses on how and why leukemia progresses, as well as making genomics discoveries in the lab that translate into new and better diagnostics and therapeutics for children, adolescents and young adults with leukemia.

Beth LawlorElizabeth Lawlor, MD, PhD

Dr. Elizabeth Lawlor is associate center director for the Ben Towne Center for Childhood Cancer Research. Her research focuses on Ewing sarcoma, an aggressive bone and soft tissue tumor that peaks in adolescence and for which new cures are needed.

Read about the Lawlor Lab.

Faculty

Myron EvansMyron Evans II, PhD

Dr. Myron Evans II is a principal investigator at the Ben Towne Center for Childhood Cancer Research. His research focuses on understanding the epigenetic events that drive normal brain development and malignant central nervous system (CNS) tumors.

Read about the Evans Lab

Heather GustafsonHeather H. Gustafson, PhD

Dr. Heather Gustafson is a principal investigator at the Ben Towne Center for Childhood Cancer Research and directs the Engineering and Designing Immunotherapy Laboratory (EDIT Labs). Her lab focuses on how to train a child’s innate immune system to fight cancer. 

Vandana KaliaVandana Kalia, PhD

Dr. Vandana Kalia is a principal investigator at the Ben Towne Center for Childhood Cancer Research. She is studying how genes regulate T cells and is pursuing ways to commandeer that process and help T cells to destroy tumors.

Read about the Kalia Lab.

Shannon OdaShannon Oda, PhD

Dr. Shannon Oda is a principal investigator at the Ben Towne Center for Childhood Cancer Research. Her lab develops engineering strategies that enable T cells to overcome obstacles in the tumor microenvironment and mount a more powerful, durable and sustained attack on cancer cells.

Read about the Oda Lab.

Dr. Jim OlsonJames M. Olson, MD, PhD

Dr. Jim Olson focuses on the discovery and development of novel therapeutics (e.g., “Tumor Paint”/Tozuleristide) with particular expertise in pediatric brain tumors. His team collaborates with labs across all disciplines at Seattle Children's Research Institute to discover novel therapeutics for pediatric patients.

Read about the Olson Lab.

Rimas OrentasRimas Orentas, PhD

Dr. Rimas Orentas is a principal investigator at the Ben Towne Center for Childhood Cancer Research. He has extensive experience in CAR T-based immunotherapy approaches to cancer therapy.  

Read about the Orentas Lab.

Siobhan PattwellSiobhan Pattwell, PhD

Dr. Siobhan Pattwell is a principal investigator at the Ben Towne Center for Childhood Cancer Research. Her research focuses on the intersection between neurodevelopment, genetics and cancer.

Read about the Pattwell Lab.

Surojit SarkarSurojit Sarkar, PhD

Dr. Surojit Sarkar is a principal investigator at the Ben Towne Center for Childhood Cancer Research. He is pursuing ways to help the immune system remember cancer and attack it if it relapses – whether that’s months or decades after a child goes into remission.

Read about the Sarkar Lab.

Dr. Jay Sarthy, MD, PhDJay F Sarthy, MD, PhD

Dr. Jay Sarthy seeks to improve the lives of children with cancer by studying the fundamental mechanisms cancer cells use to evade therapies and develop resistance.

Read about the Sarthy Lab.

Nickolas VitanzaNicholas Vitanza, MD

Dr. Nicholas Vitanza is a pediatric neuro-oncologist and translational scientist whose career is dedicated to the care of children with CNS tumors such as DIPG or DMG.

Read about the Vitanza Lab.