
Brain Tumor Program
The Pediatric Brain Tumor Program provides advanced treatment for brain and spinal cord tumors in a supportive environment. Our goal is to cure as many patients as possible, while providing all patients with the best possible care and quality of life.
In our program, a broad team of specialists coordinates care for every child. Many different types of doctors, including pediatric neuro-oncologists, neurosurgeons, neurologists, rehabilitation medicine doctors and radiation oncologists work together to make a diagnosis and a treatment plan. Our team also includes psychologists, neuropsychologists, social workers, child life specialists and a school liaison specialist who can help families navigate the challenges of treatment while caring for their child's emotional and psychological health. We work closely with local and national organizations, support groups and community resources for children and their families.
Our neurologists and neurosurgeons are supported by advanced technologies that allow us to remove or destroy tumor tissue while minimizing damage to healthy tissue. For instance, using MRI scanning during surgery helps our surgeons safely remove as much of the tumor as possible. We are also one of only a few centers in California that offer a highly targeted form of radiation therapy using the Gamma Knife and CyberKnife.
We belong to several national research consortiums that are working to discover better and safer treatments for brain and spinal tumors in children. And because we are part of a leading medical research institution, our patients are among the first to benefit from new scientific findings and clinical trials.
Our locations (2)
Our team
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Sabine Mueller
MD, PhD, MAS
Pediatric neurologist and neuro-oncologist -
Kurtis Auguste
MD
Pediatric neurosurgeon -
Anuradha Banerjee
MD, MPH
Pediatric neuro-oncologist -
Mitchel Berger
MD
Neurosurgeon -
Steve Braunstein
MD, PhD
Radiation oncologist -
Nalin Gupta
MD, PhD
Pediatric neurosurgeon -
Caroline Hastings
MD
Hematologist-oncologist and neuro-oncologist -
Winson S. Ho
MD
Pediatric neurosurgeon -
Marie Jaeger-Krause
MD
Pediatric hematologist-oncologist and neuro-oncologist -
Maya Lodish
MD
Pediatric endocrinologist -
Jean L. Nakamura
MD
Radiation oncologist -
Bo Qiu
MD, PhD
Pediatric oncologist -
David R. Raleigh
MD, PhD
Radiation oncologist -
Alyssa Reddy
MD
Pediatric neurologist and neuro-oncologist -
Peter P. Sun
MD
Pediatric neurosurgeon -
Dina Hankin
PhD
Psychologist -
Shannon Lundy
PhD
Pediatric neuropsychologist -
Wendy Santos-Modesitt
PhD
Pediatric neuropsychologist -
Caroline Farless
PNP, MSN
Pediatric nurse practitioner -
Carly Hoffman
PNP, MSN
Pediatric nurse practitioner -
Stephanie Petruzzi
LCSW, MSW
Pediatric social worker -
Shannon H. Raber
PNP, MSN
Pediatric nurse practitioner -
Sarah Schleimer
PNP, MSN
Pediatric nurse practitioner -
Anita Sharma
PNP, MSN
Pediatric nurse practitioner
Awards & recognition
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Ranked among the nation's best in 10 specialties
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Best in Northern California for cancer care
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One of the nation's best in neurology & neurosurgery
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in NIH funding among U.S. neurology programs
Plan your visit
What to Bring
- Photo I.D.
- Health insurance card
- Insurance authorization, if required
- Doctor's referral, if required
- Recent test results related to your child's condition
- List of medications, including dosages, plus any your child is allergic to
- List of questions you may have
- Device or paper for taking notes
Clinical trials
A Single-Stage, Adaptive, Open-label, Dose Escalation Safety and Efficacy Study of AADC Deficie...
Assessment of adverse events related to surgery (including intracerebral hemorrhage or stroke, CNS infection) and gene transfer (including severity of post-operative dyskinesia)
Recruiting
More about this studyGenetically Modified Cells (KIND T Cells) for the Treatment of HLA-A*0201-Positive Patients Wit...
MTD is defined as the dose at which fewer than one-third of participants experience a dose limiting toxicity (DLT) for all participants who received at least one study intervention.
Recruiting
More about this studyBGB-290 and Temozolomide in Treating Isocitrate Dehydrogenase (IDH)1/2-Mutant Grade I-IV Glioma...
Events occurring on or after treatment on Day 1 will be classified using the Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events (CTCAE) v5.0. Adverse events leading to treatment discontinuation will be listed.
Recruiting
More about this studyNivolumab and DAY101 for Treatment of Craniopharyngioma in Children and Young Adults
Progression-free survival is defined as the time of documented response until disease progression as defined by Response assessment in neuro-oncology criteria (RANO) criteria. PFS will be reported by overall group at 12 months.
Recruiting
More about this studyONC206 for Treatment of Newly Diagnosed, Recurrent Diffuse Midline Gliomas, and Other Recurrent...
A DLT is defined as a treatment-related adverse event (AE) or abnormal laboratory value that occurs in the first cycle of treatment (Cycle 1 for Arm A and D; Cycle 0 for Arm B and C), meets criteria for DLT as outlined below and i...
Recruiting
More about this studyTrametinib and Everolimus for Treatment of Pediatric and Young Adult Patients With Recurrent Gl...
We will employ the Bayesian optimal interval (BOIN) design to find the MTD for both continuous and intermittent dosing schedules. The BOIN design is implemented in a simple way similar to the traditional 3+3 design, but is more fl...
Recruiting
More about this studyIntra-Tumoral Injections of Natural Killer Cells for Recurrent Malignant Brain Tumors
Adverse events and clinically significant laboratory abnormalities (meeting grade 3, 4, or 5 criteria according to NCI CTCAE) will be summarized by maximum intensity and relationship to study drug(s). Grade 1 and 2 adverse events ...
Recruiting
More about this studyIndividualized Treatment Plan in Children and Young Adults With Relapsed Medulloblastoma
Time to tissue collection will be used to determine the feasibility of using the results of real-time in vitro drug screening, WES and RNAseq of participant-derived specimens to guide treatment recommendations by a specialized tum...
Recruiting
More about this studyA Phase 2 Study of Sonodynamic Therapy Using SONALA-001 and Exablate 4000 Type 2.0 in Patients ...
Safety and tolerability as assessed by the frequency and severity of dose-limiting toxicities (DLTs), AEs, laboratory and ECG tests, vital signs, weight, physical and neurological exams.
Recruiting
More about this studySupport services
Our research initiatives
Smell the roses
Wander outside into our Butterfly Garden in Oakland and our healing gardens at Mission Bay.
