Teresa Cristina Cardoso Fonseca graduated in medicine from the Universidade Federal da Bahia, with a specialization in pediatrics. She also has a specialization and master's degree in pediatric onco-hematology at the Universidade Federal do Paraná in Brazil. Fonseca currently lives in Ilhéus, Bahia, Brazil.
Fonseca is a professor of the medicine course at Universidade Estadual Santa Cruz (UESC), president of the National Confederation of Support and Assistance Institutions for Children with Cancer (CONIACC), director of the Support Group for Children with Cancer Sul Bahia (GACC Sul Bahia), and member of Sickle Cell Disease Reference Center of Itabuna and Ilhéus.
She also served as president of the Brazilian Society of Pediatric Oncology (SOBOPE) from 2014-18 and was a member of the AMARTE Alliance-St Jude Children´s Research Hospital (2022-2023). Fonseca is currently a member of CONSINCA (Cancer Council – Ministry of Health) and the National Care Policy Committee Integral to People with Sickle Cell Disease (Ministry of Health).
Fonseca is an integral member of two projects: Data Manager Project and Pediatric Oncology Mapping in Brazil.
The Data Manager Project is a project where all children undergoing treatment for Acute Lymphoid Leukemia with the SOBOPE protocol will be registered and their data will be monitored throughout the treatment. With this project, it will be possible to obtain concrete data on the morbidity and mortality of these children in Brazil. This is a project by SOBOPE, CONIACC, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, and the Keira Grace Foundation.
The Pediatric Oncology Mapping project in Brazil will map all hospitals in Brazil that treat children with cancer (physical structure, professionals and functionality), as well as all the institutions that support these hospitals. The objective of this project is to recognize the reality of pediatric oncology care, so that in the future it can act with proposals for improvements. This project is carried out by CONIACC, SOBOPE, and the Brazilian Ministry of Health, and is part of the Global Initiative against Childhood Cancer in Latin America and the Caribbean (PAHO, WHO, and St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital).
Through GACC Sul Bahia, UESC, and the Ronald McDonald Institute, she has been carrying out an Early Diagnosis program in the southern region of Bahia since 2005. Her greatest interest is in working with pediatric oncology and sickle cell disease, with a focus on public health.
Her main motivation for being in the Master’s in Global Child Health program is to have greater knowledge, increase her network, and count on the support of St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in carrying out the projects mentioned above, in addition to the prospect of carrying out other projects. These projects will be able to promote actions that bring about necessary changes for Brazil.
Hometown: Ilhéus, Bahia, Brazil
Education:
MD, Pediatric Medicine - Universidade Federal da Bahia
MS, Pediatric Onco-Hematology - Universidade Federal do Paraná
Publications:
Lobo C, Araújo A, Antunes AA ... Fonseca TCC. General management of blood and blood products on the tests necessary for the release of exceptional medicines for sickle cell disease. Hematol Transfus Cell Ther 2024 Jan-Mar;46(1):67-71. doi: 10.1016/j.htct.2024.01.001. Epub 2024 Feb 1. PMID: 38326179; PMCID: PMC10935471.
Correa BT, Silva GSS, Mendes WJS, Maia AM, Aleluia ACM, Fonseca TCC, da Guarda CC, Gonçalves MS, Aleluia MM. Association of the clinical profile and overall survival of pediatric patients with acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Front Pediatr 2023 Sep 7;11:1223889. doi: 10.3389/fped.2023.1223889. PMID: 37744444; PMCID: PMC10513176.