Virtual Tour of the Program
A Message from the Program Director
Welcome and thank you for your interest in the Pediatric Hematology/Oncology Fellowship Program at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences in partnership with Arkansas Children’s Hospital! With the support of our faculty, nurses, GME fellowship coordinator, and so many others, you will get great training here!
Arkansas Children’s Hospital, nationally ranked in seven pediatric specialties as one of the best children’s hospitals 2024-2025, is a pediatric hospital with a Level I Trauma Center, and is an American College of Surgeon verified Level 1 Children’s Surgical Center, that’s located in Little Rock, Arkansas. It is among the largest pediatric hospitals in the United States and serves children from birth to age 21, and is one of the largest free-standing children’s hospitals in the nation.
The Section of Pediatric Hematology/Oncology has a long and proud history at University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences and Arkansas Children’s Hospital.
Dr. Dasilee Berry was one of the first board-certified pediatric hematologist/oncologist and began the program in Arkansas in 1964. The current Section Chief of Pediatric Hematology/Oncology, Dr. David L. Becton, is the second leader at Arkansas Children’s in the history of the program.
We diagnose more than 150 new patients with various cancers a year, and we provide care to over 90% of the children from Arkansas who have cancer. We provide comprehensive care to these patients with complete support including critical care, cardiology, renal, radiation therapy, laboratory and blood bank support, pediatric surgery, orthopedic oncology, and neuro-oncology.
The Bleeding Disorders and Thrombosis Clinic follows more than 150 patients with Hemophilia and 250 patients with von Willebrand’s disease. We also see on average more than 24 new thrombophilia patients a year. Our hemoglobinopathies program follows more than 400 patients with Sickle Cell disease and other disorders.
We are heavily involved in our world-renowned comprehensive Vascular Anomalies program with more than 1500 visits a year. Our Innovative Cancer Therapeutics program offers more and more phase I/II studies for patients to get the specific care they need here in Arkansas.
We offer both allogeneic and autologous bone marrow transplants to treat cancers, immune disorders, and blood diseases. Our autologous program is accredited by the internationally recognized Foundation for the Accreditation of Cellular Therapy. Our program is also a certified CAR-T site!
We have the only childhood cancer treatment center in the state and provide state-of-the-art care to our patients. We are an NCI-funded center within the Children’s Oncology Group, and our patients participate in national clinical trials which provide the latest cutting-edge treatment programs.
Within our oncology program, we have specialized areas of interest in bone tumors/sarcomas, working closely with our orthopedic oncology surgeon, and in brain tumors, working closely with our pediatric neurosurgeons. We have a strong, ongoing relationship with University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences Radiology, where our patients who require radiation therapy are treated by a pediatric radiation oncologist.
We have a large Southeast Asian population and the largest group of Marshallese Islanders outside the Marshall Islands in Arkansas. These ethnic groups add diversity to our complex Red Blood Cell Disorders group.
If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to reach out.