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Akron Children's > Departments & Programs

Showers Family Center for Childhood Cancer and Blood Disorders

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Our specially trained and certified oncology staff treats a variety of pediatric cancers and offers a broad range of expertise in cancer and bleeding disorders. Studies have shown that the survival rates for infants, children, teens and young adults treated at a pediatric cancer center are greater than those at an adult hospital.

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Department: 330-543-8580

About Cancer and Blood Disorders

SPECIALIZED TEAMS FOR:
Cancer Survivorship
Hemostasis & Thrombosis
Sickle Cell
Bone Marrow Transplant
Pediatric Brain Tumor Program

National leader in improving quality and safety in Hematology-Oncology

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In 2023, the Showers Family Center served patients from 40 counties in Ohio and 9 other states

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Jeffrey Hord, MD

Dr. Jeffrey Hord has been practicing since 1995 and joined Akron Children’s in 1999. He serves as the Director of Pediatric Hematology-Oncology and the LOPen Charities and Mawaka Family Chair in Pediatric Hematology-Oncology and 2023-24 Vice President of the American Society of Pediatric Hematology/Oncology. After receiving his medical degree from the University of Kentucky, he completed his residency at The Ohio State University and fellowship at Vanderbilt University. He has a special interest in oncology, hematology, oncology supportive care, practice management, and reducing central line associated blood stream infections. Dr. Hord is board-certified in pediatric hematology-oncology.

Meet Jeffrey Hord, MD

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Erin Wright, MD

Dr. Erin Wright has been in practice since 2019. After receiving her medical degree from Northeast Ohio Medical University (NEOMED), she completed her residency at the University South Florida, followed by a neuro-oncology fellowship at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital and a hematology-oncology fellowship at Akron Children’s. She has a special interest in brain and spinal cord tumors, neurofibromatosis/tumor predisposition syndromes, and targeted therapies. Dr. Wright is board-certified in pediatrics and pediatric hematology-oncology. 

Meet Erin Wright, MD

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Sarah Rush, MD

Dr. Sarah Rush has been practicing since 2010 and joined Akron Children’s in 2013. She serves as the Chief Medical Information Officer, the Marci M. Matthews Endowed Chair in Telehealth, the Director of Neuro-oncology and the VP of Informatics. After receiving her medical degree from the University of Cincinnati, she completed her residency at Akron Children’s and fellowships at Vanderbilt University Medical Center and The Children’s Hospital in Aurora, Colorado. She has a special interest in pediatric neuro-oncology and neurocutaneous disorders. Dr. Rush is board-certified in pediatric hematology-oncology. Sarah Rush, MD, chief medical information officer at Akron Children’s, joined the hospital in 2013 as a pediatric oncologist specializing in the treatment of children with brain and spinal cord tumors and has been an active member of the hospital’s physician informatics group since 2016.

Meet Sarah Rush, MD

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Stephanie Savelli, MD

Dr. Stephanie Savelli has been practicing since 2006. She joined Akron Children’s as an attending physician and serves as the Director of the Pediatric Hematologist-Oncologist Fellowship Program and the Survivorship and Late Effects Program. After receiving her medical degree from State University at Buffalo School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, she completed her residency at the Cleveland Clinic and fellowship at Nationwide Children’s Hospital. She has a special interest in childhood cancer survivorship and late effects, bleeding disorders in women, and thrombotic disorders. Dr. Savelli is board-certified in pediatric hematology-oncology. 

Meet Stephanie Savelli, MD

542 Bleeding and clotting disorder patients

received care in 2023

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Make a donation to support the Showers Family Center for Childhood Cancer and Blood Disorders

 

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Our team includes board-certified pediatric hematologists-oncologists, advanced practice nurses, physician assistants, certified pediatric oncology nurses, pharmacists, clinical research associates, child life specialists, social workers, psychologists and educators. We also work closely with other specialty departments as needed, including surgery, pathology, radiology, pain management, nutrition, adolescent medicine, physical therapy, palliative care and genetics.

On average, we care for 8 newly-diagnosed children with cancer each month. The most common types of cancer are leukemia, brain and central nervous system cancers.

We are also active in national clinical trials for childhood cancer and blood disorders and explore the causes and treatment of these diseases through our basic science research program.

As a member of Children’s Oncology Group (COG), we participate in the development of National Cancer Institute-approved treatment protocols and offer the most up-to-date cancer therapies. Our program is one of only about a dozen pediatric cancer programs in the country verified by the American College of Surgeons Commission on Cancer.

As a major teaching institution affiliated with Northeast Ohio Medical University, we also train future doctors who want to specialize in pediatric hematology-oncology through our accredited fellowship training program.

For children and teens with high-risk tumors or cancers that have been unresponsive to standard treatment options, we offer individualized therapies through our Shannon E. Wilkes Targeted Therapy Program. This form of medicine uses information about the genetic make-up of a patient's cancer to identify drugs or other treatments that block the growth and spread of cancer.

Targeted therapies are typically less harmful to normal cells than standard chemotherapy. 

Cancer and Blood Disorders, Akron

Akron Children's Cancer and Blood Disorders
Main Hospital Building
214 West Bowery Street
Akron, Ohio 44308
Fax: 330-543-3220
Map & directions
More about this location...

Appointments: 330-543-8580

Department: 330-543-8580

Cancer and Blood Disorders, Boardman

Akron Children's Center for Childhood Cancer and Blood Disorders, Boardman
Leonard J. Fisher Family Building
6505 Market Street, Building A
Boardman, Ohio 44512
Fax: 330-746-9523
Map & directions
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Appointments: 330-746-9522

Department: 330-746-9522

Cancer and Blood Disorders, Millersburg

Akron Children's Cancer and Blood Disorders, Millersburg
1261 Wooster Road
Suite 220
Millersburg, Ohio 44654
Map & directions
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Appointments: 330-543-8580

DEPARTMENT HEADS:

Jeffrey Hord, MD

Director, Division of Hematology-Oncology; Pediatric Hematologist-Oncologist; LOPen Charities and Mawaka Family Chair in Pediatric Hematology/Oncology; Vice President, American Society of Pediatric Hematology/ Oncology 2023-2024

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PHYSICIANS/PROVIDERS:

Prasad Bodas, MD

Director, Sickle Cell Program; Pediatric Hematologist-Oncologist

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Lauren Draper, MD, MA

Pediatric Hematologist-Oncologist

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Hannah Elkus, MD, MS

Director, Quality Improvement, Co-Director Resident Quality Improvement Initiative; Pediatric Residency Core Faculty; Pediatric Hematologist-Oncologist

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 Accepting new patients

Jessica Feinstein, PsyD

Pediatric and Adolescent Psychologist

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Nicole Kendel, MD

Director, Hemostasis and Thrombosis Center; Pediatric Hematologist-Oncologist

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Vanisha Patel, MD

Pediatric Hematologist-Oncologist

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Sarah Rush, MD

Vice President, Informatics; Chief Medical Information Officer; Pediatric Neuro-Oncologist; Marci M. Matthews Endowed Chair in Telehealth

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Megan Sampson, MD

Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation Program Director; Pediatric Hematologist-Oncologist

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Stephanie Savelli, MD

Director, Childhood Cancer Survivorship Program and Pediatric Hematology-Oncology Fellowship Program; Pediatric Hematologist-Oncologist

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Erin Wright, MD

Director, Neuro-Oncology; Director, Shannon E. Wilkes Targeted Therapy Program; Jeffrey A. Barbour Chair for Pediatric Hematology/Oncology Research and Healing; Co-Director, Neurofibromatosis Clinic; Pediatric Neuro-Oncologist

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 Accepting new patients

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NURSE PRACTITIONERS/PHYSICIAN ASSISTANTS:
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 Accepting new patients

Courtney Culbertson, MSN, APRN-CNP

Stem Cell Transplant Program Coordinator; Pediatric Nurse Practitioner; Co-Lead Hematology/Oncology Advance Practice Providers

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Emily Lyon, APRN-CNP

Pediatric Nurse Practitioner

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 Accepting new patients

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 Accepting new patients

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Drew Westfall, MSN, APRN-CNP

Pediatric Nurse Practitioner; Co-Lead Hematology/Oncology Advance Practice Providers

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Factoid: 1 of 9 Pediatric Cancer Programs

1 of 9 Ped Cancer Programs
Recognized by the American College of Surgeons

Factoid: 1 of 150

1 of 150
Federally designated hemostasis & thrombosis centers in US

Factoid: Bleeding & Clotting Disorder Patients

542 Patients
with bleeding & clotting disorders received care in 2023

Factoid: 1 of 6 Sickle Cell Centers

1 of 6
Regional Sickle Cell Centers in Ohio

Factoid: Ohio and 9 states

40 Counties and 9 Other States
Our patients come from 40 Ohio counties and 9 other states

Open Clinical Studies

Genetic Analysis Identifying Late Occurring Complications in Childhood Cancer Survivors (ALTE03N1)

For complete study information, please view the study on clinicaltrials.gov.

More about this study

Effects of Dexrazoxane Hydrochloride on Biomarkers Associated With Cardiomyopathy and Heart Failure

For complete study information, please view the study on clinicaltrials.gov

More about this study

Guided Therapy in Treating Younger Patients With Non-high Risk Neuroblastoma

For complete study information, please view the study on clinicaltrials.gov

More about this study

The Project: Every Child Protocol: A Registry, Eligibility Screening, Biology and Outcome Study

For complete information, please view the project on clinicaltrials.gov

More about this study

Neuropsychological, Social, Emotional, and Behavioral Outcomes in Children With Cancer

For complete information, please visit the study on clinicaltrials.gov

More about this study

Selumetinib in Treating Young Patients With Recurrent or Refractory Low Grade Glioma

For complete details, please view the study on clinicaltrials.gov.

Study in conjunction with Cincinnati Children's Hospital.

More about this study

Maintenance Chemotherapy or Observation Following Induction Chemo and Radiation for Ependymoma

For complete information, please visit the study on clinicaltrials.gov

More about this study

Biomarkers in Tumor Samples From Patients With Newly Diagnosed Neuroblastoma or Ganglioneuroblastoma

For complete study details, please visit the study on clinicaltrials.gov.

More about this study

Safety and efficacy of Ravulizumab for pediatric patients with thrombocytic microangiopathy following hematopoetic stem cell transplantation

View complete study details here.

More about this study

Study to determine the safety and tolerability of SNDX-5613 in patients with relapsed/refractory leukemia

For complete information, please visit the study at clinicaltrials.gov.

More about this study

Studying the Effect of Levocarnitine in Protecting the Liver From Chemotherapy for Leukemia or Lymphoma

Please view the study at clinicaltrials.gov for complete details.

More about this study

A Study to Test the Addition of the Drug Cabozantinib to Chemotherapy in Patients With Newly Diagnosed Osteosarcoma

For complete information, please visit the study at Clinicaltrials.gov.

More about this study

Unfortunately, we don't permit live plants on that unit due to infection control purposes.

Patients diagnosed with acute lymphocytic leukemia would be seen in our Cancer and Blood Disorders Center.

Akron Children’s offers many resources to support our cancer patients and their loved ones, not only while going through treatment but ongoing.

The Commission on Cancer (CoC), a quality program of the American College of Surgeons (ACS) has granted three-year accreditation to the cancer program at Akron Children's. To earn voluntary CoC accreditation, a cancer program must meet 34 CoC quality care standards, be evaluated every three years through a survey process, and maintain levels of excellence in the delivery of comprehensive patient-centered care.

Conditions and Treatments:

ALL, AML, Astrocytoma, Bone Cancer, Bone and Soft Tissue Tumors, Brain and Spinal Cord Tumors, Cancer, Craniopharyngiomas, Ependymoma, Ewing Sarcoma, Germ Cell Tumors, Glioma, Hodgkin's Lymphoma, Kidney Tumors, Leukemia, Liver Tumors, Lymphoma, Medulloblastoma, Melanoma, Neuroblastoma, Neutropenia, Oligodendrogliomas, Osteosarcoma, Pineoblastomas, Retinoblastoma, Rhabdomyosarcoma, Thyroid Masses, Tumor, Aplastic Anemia, Bleeding Disorder, Blood Disorders, G6PD Deficiency, Hemophilia, Hereditary Hemorrhagic Telangiectasia, Idiopathic Thrombocytopenic Purpura, Iron-Deficiency Anemia, Severe Combined Immunodeficiency, Sickle Cell Anemia, Thalassemia, von Willebrand Disease

Akron Children's joins the Children's Brain Tumor Network to accelerate pediatric research

Akron Children's joins the Children's Brain Tumor Network to accelerate pediatric research

Make a donation to support the Showers Family Center for Childhood Cancer and Blood Disorders

 

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