Daniel Moreira, MD, MEd

In many parts of the world, especially in low- and middle-income countries, a robust, well-trained workforce able to provide pediatric cancer care does not always exist. This is important to note as high-quality care depends on the availability of appropriately trained specialists who can provide the necessary care for children with cancer and catastrophic diseases. As a physician in the Department of Global Pediatric Medicine and Director of Global Professional Education, I seek to identify educational priorities for the pediatric oncology care teams and define interventions that expand access to care. 

Outcomes for children with central nervous system tumors are poorer for those living in low- and middle-income countries as compared to high-income countries. This multifactorial phenomenon stems from a lack of comprehensive neuropathologic evaluations, worse surgical outcomes, difficulty accessing cancer-directed treatments such as radiation therapy and an increasing number of patients suffering from treatment-related toxicity. However, we lack the data necessary to fully understand many of these factors and their contribution to disparate outcomes.

I am investigating the factors that contribute to poor clinical outcomes for this patient population in low- and middle-income countries and collecting data that will better inform the pediatric oncology community of the incident rates, survival rates and current outcomes for children with central nervous system tumors. Once these data are collected, we can identify region-specific, resource-level adjusted approaches that will allow for an increase in overall survival for these children.