Class Notes and Alumni Updates From Pediatric Oncologists
2018 | 2014 | 2011 | 2010 | 2008 | 2007 | 2003 | 2002 | 2001 | 1999 | 1996 | 1980
Alumni Updates
Advancing Clinical Trials
Nathan Schloemer, MD ’08
My primary clinical role at Children’s Wisconsin/Medical College of Wisconsin in Milwaukee is managing the health of children, teens, and young adults who have solid cancers and vascular anomalies. I also co-direct our multidisciplinary, precision Pediatric Oncology Clinic, COMPASS, where I provide molecularly targeted treatments for patients with relapsed and refractory cancers. Additionally, I am working to bring clinical trials to our patients and to develop and implement early-phase clinical trials utilizing cellular therapies.
I am involved in the Children’s Oncology Group’s Ewing Sarcoma Biology and Soft Tissue Sarcoma Steering Committees, which are working to develop rhabdomyosarcoma trials; the site primary and national scientific committees for the Beat Childhood Cancer Consortium, which is developing and implementing early-phase treatment protocols; and the site primary for the Consortium of Investigators of Vascular Anomalies, which is planning one of the first national, molecularly targeted trials for children and young adults with vascular and lymphatic anomalies.
During my pediatrics residency at RUSH University in Chicago, I found that oncology patients and families impacted me the most. Next, while I was working in pediatric critical care, I decided to enter a pediatric hematology/oncology fellowship. I am so happy that I gained that training for my current career.
I have been fortunate to see patients overcome incredible challenges and go on to graduate from high school, attend college, sometimes attend medical school, and walk down the aisle at their weddings. Unfortunately, some of my patients have passed away from their diseases, but I know I have made a difference in their lives when their families invite me to memorials or run/walks, or send me a Dairy Queen Dilly Bar at Christmas.
In this field, we support and guide patients and families through the most challenging times of their lives. While some situations can be devastating, I cannot think of a more rewarding, impactful career.
Treating Leukemias and Lymphomas
Julie Rivers, MD ’11, MS
I am a clinical associate professor of pediatrics at the University of Washington and a pediatric oncologist at Seattle Children’s Hospital, where I treat children and young adults with leukemias and lymphomas. I have interests in pediatric non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) and post-transplant lymphoproliferative disorder (PTLD).
One of my first patients was a toddler with trisomy 21 and a new diagnosis of acute lymphoblastic leukemia. She developed an invasive fungal infection with mucormycosis that penetrated her central nervous system. We could not give her the intensive phases of therapy because she needed her immune system to fight the fungal infection, and her anti-fungal medications interfered with most of the maintenance chemotherapy we would have given her. We told the family that she would either die from her leukemia or her infection, but she beat both, and she is a joyful, loving adolescent. It is always good to be reminded that we have no crystal ball.
Despite having an interest in pediatric oncology since high school, I was a kayak guide in Alaska and an emergency medical technician in Colorado before I entered medical school. During my pediatric rotation, I enjoyed caring for the whole patient and family. I moved to Seattle for my pediatric residency, and I discovered that caring for pediatric oncology patients was the right fit. Building long-term relationships with patients and families is important to me, and I love managing critically ill patients. I also find all organ systems interesting.
I stayed in Seattle for my pediatric hematology/oncology fellowship and conducted research related to pediatric chimeric antigen receptor T-cell trials for pediatric leukemias. I have continued on this clinical research team, which is interesting and fulfilling. Also, as the director of our Pediatric Hematology-Oncology Fellowship Program and the education and training representative for our division’s senior leadership team, I love seeing trainees grow and succeed. Further, I am a member of the Children’s Oncology Group’s NHL Committee and PTLD Sub-committee.
Pediatric oncology is advancing rapidly, and I love being challenged and learning something new every day.
Therapy for Hemophilia
Michael Recht, MD ’92, PHD ’90
I am a professor of clinical pediatrics at Yale University School of Medicine/Yale New Haven Hospital, and a member of the Section of Pediatric Hematology-Oncology and the Center for Bleeding and Clotting Disorders. My patients range from infants to young adults with inherited bleeding and clotting disorders. After a long career leading an inpatient pediatric hematology consult service, I work solely in the outpatient setting. I also am involved in gene-therapy trials and set up the delivery of commercial hemophilia gene therapy.
Further, I am the chief medical and scientific officer for the National Bleeding Disorders Foundation, where my work helps define, develop, and implement its science and research strategies.
My career began when HIV was devastating the hemophilia community. During my fellowship, I cared for approximately 40 children who died from AIDS after receiving tainted clotting-factor concentrate. We now can deliver potentially curative gene therapy. I feel privileged to have been involved in clinical trials that led to the approval of these life-changing medications.
Many remarkable individuals have greatly impacted my career. I chose my specialty due to the mentorship of University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health (SMPH) Professor Paul Sondel, MD, PhD ’75 (PG ’80). Dr. Sondel and I discussed the potential of me taking time off from medical school to pursue a doctorate in cancer immunology. His example of patient-centered, state-of-the-art care deeply influenced the direction I took. Following my pediatric residency at Yale New Haven Hospital and during my fellowship at Yale, I worked closely with Diana Beardsley, MD, PhD. Her excitement around caring for children with inherited bleeding and clotting disorders was infectious. Her influence also helped shape my career.
I am active in the American Society of Pediatric Hematology-Oncology, the American Society of Hematology, the International Society of Thrombosis and Hemostasis, and the Foundation for Women and Girls with Blood Disorders.
Despite the incredible advances in our field, there are so many unanswered questions waiting to be explored. I have had an amazing career, and graduating from SMPH was the first stepping stone!
Class Notes
Class of 2018
Daryl Fields was recently appointed as a trustee to Point Park University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Fields is a neurosurgery resident at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, where he conducts research aimed at overcoming paralysis in those with brain injuries.
Class of 2014
Laurel Bessey, assistant professor of psychiatry at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, received the Early-Career Development Award from the Association for Academic Psychiatry. The award recognizes promising early-career faculty members and provides an opportunity to learn and share teaching techniques, skills, and innovations and to network with other junior faculty members from across the United States.
Classes of 2011, 2010, 2007, 1997
Matthew Swedlund (MD ’11), Alexis Eastman (MD ’10), Amber Shada (MD ’07), and John McCartney (MD ’97) — all members of the UW School of Medicine and Public Health faculty — were selected for the 2024 cohort of the UW Health Physician Leadership Development Program. The program’s goal is to develop the leaders needed to implement institutional strategies and meet future challenges in academic medicine. Swedlund is an assistant professor in the Department of Family Medicine and Community Health. Eastman is an associate professor in the Division of Geriatrics and Gerontology of the Department of Medicine. Shada is an assistant professor in the Department of Surgery. And McCartney is a professor in the Division of Allergy, Pulmonary, and Critical Care Medicine within the Department of Medicine.
Amy Fowler (MD ’07) was appointed to a three-year term on the Radiological Society of North America’s Quantitative Imaging Committee. She is an associate professor in the Breast Imaging Section of the Department of Radiology at the UW School of Medicine and Public Health.
Class of 2008
Rebekah Jakel was named a 2024 distinguished fellow by the American Psychiatric Association. This award is the highest honor bestowed on psychiatrists who have made outstanding contributions to the field. Jakel is the chief of psychiatry at the Durham Veterans Affairs Health Care System and a practicing psychiatrist with a focus on psychiatric care for patients with movement disorders. She is an assistant professor of psychiatry at Duke University, where she co-leads a novel biological psychiatry course focusing on identifying key neuroscience concepts and pathways in psychiatric disorders.
Class of 2003
Jeniel Nett has been appointed deputy editor for Open Forum Infectious Diseases, an official journal of the Infectious Diseases Society of America. At the UW School of Medicine and Public Health, she is an associate professor in the division of infectious disease of the Department of Medicine and an associate professor in the Department of Medical Microbiology and Immunology.
Class of 2002
Kimberly Stepien received the McPherson Eye Research Institute’s 2023 Retinitis Pigmentosa Research Award for her project, “Comparison of Clarus and Optos Ultrawide Field Imaging for Retinitis Pigmentosa.” She is a professor in the Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences at the UW School of Medicine and Public Health. She also is the director of the Adult Inherited Retinal Disease Clinic at UW Health.
Class of 2001
Wendy Molaska was appointed by Governor Tony Evers to the 25-person Wisconsin Task Force on the Healthcare Workforce. The task force is charged with studying the workforce challenges facing the state’s health care system, including enhancing recruitment and retention; identifying ways to improve patient care and alleviate burdens on the health care workforce; exploring educational and training pathways to grow a sustainable health care workforce; and creating an action plan with solutions related to workforce development, industry innovation, education, and training for consideration in the governor’s 2025-27 executive budget.
Class of 1999
Chris Dale, an orthopedic surgeon at Mercyhealth East in Janesville, Wisconsin, spent three months in France over the summer of 2023. He completed an intensive French language-immersion course in Antibes, France, an experience that allowed him to interact with staff and patients in the hospital and clinic setting. Dale also spent one month in Annecy, France, at the Alps Surgery Institute, with Laurent Lafosse, MD, learning tendon transfers of the shoulder and other advanced shoulder techniques. He subsequently spent one month at the Nice Shoulder Institute with Pascal Boileau, MD, in Nice, France. There, he practiced additional advanced techniques, including the arthroscopic Latarjet procedure. He also learned advanced knee techniques, including trochleoplasty, with Daniel Dejour, MD, in Lyon, France.
Class of 1996
John Babalola recently started in new roles in advanced laparoscopic general surgery, advanced laparoscopic colorectal surgery, and minimally invasive vein intervention. He is a professor of surgery at Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra University/Northwell Health in Uniondale, New York.
Class of 1980
Ruth Etzel has been named editor-in-chief of Environmental Health, a peer-reviewed journal that publishes manuscripts related to environmental and occupational medicine. She is the senior advisor in the Office of Water at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and teaches at the Milken Institute School of Public Health at George Washington University in Washington, D.C.
Felix Yip was appointed in December 2023 to the Medical Board of California, on which he served in 2003 and from 2013 to 2022. He believes he may be the only board member who has served under three governors (Governors Davis, Brown, and Newsom). Yip is a board-certified urologist in private practice. He has served as a clinical professor of urology at the University of Southern California’s Keck School of Medicine since 2013 and at the University of California, Irvine School of Medicine since 2023. He is a member of the American Board of Urology and the American Urological Association.