Author Profile

Heather Mefford, MD, PhD

Faculty, Department of Cell & Molecular Biology

Heather Mefford, MD, PhD

Heather Mefford, MD, PhD, is a faculty member in the Department of Cell & Molecular Biology at St. Jude.

Stories by Heather Mefford

A not-so-bitter pill to swallow
A not-so-bitter pill to swallow
Clinical

A not-so-bitter pill to swallow

Keith Crabtree, PhD

Pill swallowing should be easy – imagine the stress when the pills are life-saving and you have a physical condition that makes it difficult – what then?

New chemotherapies change the paradigm of cancer treatment
New chemotherapies change the paradigm of cancer treatment
Clinical

New chemotherapies change the paradigm of cancer treatment

Arijit Basu

New treatments have led to new thinking and new approaches to pediatric cancer – and sometimes, a cure isn’t the goal.

Lando: Star Wars smuggler or possible ally against Alzheimer’s disease?
Lando: Star Wars smuggler or possible ally against Alzheimer’s disease?
Research

Lando: Star Wars smuggler or possible ally against Alzheimer’s disease?

Mary Powers

High science calls on Star Wars character as a potential ally against Alzheimer’s disease.

SJELIOT clinical trial of children’s brain tumor therapy
SJELIOT clinical trial of children’s brain tumor therapy
Research

SJELIOT clinical trial explores a new approach for recurring and unresponsive medulloblastoma tumors

Gary Bridgman

St. Jude is testing adult cancer drug prexasertib in children with recurrent or refractory medulloblastoma to inhibit checkpoint kinase chk1/2.

17th Generation Samurai Fighting Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia at St. Jude
17th Generation Samurai Fighting Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia at St. Jude
Investigator Insights

The 17 Samurai

Hiroto Inaba, MD, PhD

Hiroto Inaba: scientist, pediatric oncologist and "first son" of an old samurai family. His unfortunate enemy: childhood cancer.

Patient care and clinical informatics: A balance between technology and clinical care
Patient care and clinical informatics: A balance between technology and clinical care
Clinical

Patient care and clinical informatics: creating balance between technology and clinical care

Kerry Hillis Goff

A physician scientist updates the St. Jude model of research and clinical care, transforming clinical informatics.

Acute lymphoblastic leukemia: collaborations in China showcase global cancer care
Acute lymphoblastic leukemia: collaborations in China showcase global cancer care
Research

Acute lymphoblastic leukemia: collaborations in China showcase the power of global cancer care

Ching-Hon Pui, MD

An agreement between one U.S. hospital and two Chinese hospitals in 1991 has completely changed global pediatric cancer care.

Optimizing leukemia treatment through pharmaceutical science
Optimizing leukemia treatment through pharmaceutical science
Research

Optimizing leukemia treatment through pharmaceutical science

Mary Relling, PharmD

Effective leukemia treatment is one thing – making sure it’s optimized with minimal implications is another. Read research juggles both to help patients.

Discovering how T cell 'exhaustion' is triggered could energize cancer immunotherapy
Discovering how T cell 'exhaustion' is triggered could energize cancer immunotherapy
Research

Discovering how T cell “exhaustion” is triggered could energize cancer immunotherapy

Ben Youngblood, PhD

Read how the discovery of this gene could change immunotherapy cancer and viral infection treatments.

‘Black hole’ of cancer journey? Transition oncology fills that gap
‘Black hole’ of cancer journey? Transition oncology fills that gap
Clinical

‘Black hole’ of cancer journey? Transition oncology program fills the gap

Keith Crabtree, PhD

You’re just out of cancer treatment – now what? Read about the transition oncology program that helps young cancer patients get back to living.