Since its founding in 1962, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital has been committed to finding cures and saving children with cancer and other life-threatening diseases through research and treatment. Discoveries made by St. Jude are freely shared with the global scientific community.
The hospital is dedicated to ensuring that children with life-threatening diseases have access to quality care and treatment no matter where they live.
In a high-income country such as the United States, access to modern treatments and robust supportive care have resulted in cure rates of more than 80% for children with cancer. But about 90% of children live in low- or middle-income countries, where access to quality pediatric oncology care is suboptimal to nonexistent. In those countries, most children with cancer will die. The outlook is similar for children with life-threatening blood disorders.
In 1993, the St. Jude established the International Outreach Program to extend its global impact. Using a “twinning” model, St. Jude developed one-on-one relationships with 24 hospitals in 17 countries in low- and middle-income areas. These include institutions in Brazil, Chile, China, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Jordan, Lebanon, Mexico, Morocco, Nicaragua, the Philippines and Venezuela.
The efforts were primarily humanitarian—when pediatric oncology help was needed, St. Jude provided it. Regional partnerships emerged around the hospital’s partner sites. By sharing knowledge, technology, organizational skills and resources, St. Jude steadily improved outcomes in children with cancer.
In spite of its success, the program affected less than 3% of the children with cancer worldwide. A scalable approach was necessary to reach more children and hasten progress.
St. Jude is in a position to make a major impact.
The work that has occurred through the International Outreach Program has planted the seeds for what could be the most ambitious initiative ever developed in global pediatric oncology and hematology: St. Jude Global.
The Department of Global Pediatric Medicine has been created to accelerate this initiative.
We are prioritizing the global approach to childhood cancer, taking St. Jude to the world. At the end of the day, our outcomes will be about patients. The children are the ones who inspire us, and for whom we work.
Department of Global Pediatric Medicine
Formed in early 2016, this academic department is developing the implementation science needed to achieve the goals of St. Jude Global. Faculty in this department are dedicated to advancing knowledge of global health science, systems and methodology related to childhood cancer and blood disorders.
The department includes faculty with expertise in global medicine, health economics, global health policy, education, epidemiology, medical anthropology and analytics.
Faculty in this department work to:
- Develop better methods for estimating the global burden of childhood cancer and blood diseases
- Study social, economic, genetic and environmental factors that cause differences in incidence and outcomes of pediatric cancer worldwide
- Develop quality and performance metrics that guide capacity-building initiatives
- Create innovative approaches to strengthening health systems
- Conceive, develop and implement resource-adjusted and cost-effective therapeutic and supportive care interventions
- Create a global research infrastructure to support the generation of new knowledge
- Define optimal ways to train a global workforce
- Develop best practices for sharing expertise and resources
- Advance a research culture that will provide continuous improvement within each global region
St. Jude Global
St. Jude Global aims to bring sophisticated medical care to children in every corner of the world. Led by the Department of Global Pediatric Medicine, St. Jude Global will develop regional networks of partners around the world so that every child has access to quality care for cancer and other life-threatening diseases.
Within the next decade, our aim is that all children with cancer and blood disorders will have access to quality care. This care will consider the resource level of each institution. The programs will be instilled with knowledge, support and leadership from our faculty.
The mission of St. Jude Global is to improve the survival rates of children with cancer and other life-threatening diseases worldwide through the sharing of knowledge, technology and organizational skills.
This mission will be achieved by focusing on three overriding goals:
- Train the clinical workforce required to meet our mission
- Develop and strengthen health systems and patient-centered initiatives that encompass the entire continuum of care required for children with cancer and non-malignant hematological diseases
- Advance knowledge in global pediatric oncology and hematology through research to sustain a continuous improvement in the level and quality of care delivered around the globe
The St. Jude Global vision is to:
- Harness talent and resources across St. Jude and globally
- Develop strong regional networks
- Within the next decade, influence the care of up to 30% of children with cancer worldwide