Introduction

The department of Paediatric Hematology Oncology is functional since April 2017 at the institute. The department caters to patients with blood diseases and cancers. We are involved in the diagnosis and management of childhood cancers, thalassemias, hemophilias, rare bleeding disorders, aplastic anemia, nutritional anemias, primary immune deficiencies and other rare haemolytic anemias and inherited bone marrow failure syndromes. Our journey has been fulfilling so far and we have been striving to develop our department as a tertiary centre for patients from in and outside the state.

Name of the Faculty

Dr Nita Radhakrishnan

Designation: Assistant Professor
Qualification: MD Paediatrics, FNB (DNB Fellowship in Paediatric Hematology Oncology)

Patient Services

  1. Integrated Hemophilia and Thalassemia Treatment Center: Our centre has been recognised as a treatment centre for both Hemophilia and Thalassemia under the National Health Mission and currently we have registered more than 120 patients with hemophilia and 60 patients with thalassemia at our centre. These patients can avail all benefits provided by the state such as access to free coagulation factor support in hemophilia/VWD and leucodepleted blood and free chelation in case of thalassemia.
  2. Special clinics: We conduct speciality clinics for the various diseases that need chronic comprehensive care with involvement of other specialist doctors, dietician, physiotherapist, dentist etc. The special clinics run by the department are

    3. Mon: Thalassemia
    Wed: Nutritional anemia
    Thu: Primary Immune Deficiency and post BMT
    Fri: LTFU (long term follow up) of cancer patients)
    Sat: Bleeding and thrombosis clinic

  3. IAP Fellowship in PHO: The department has been recognized as a training centre for fellowship in Paediatric Hematology Oncology under Indian Academy of Paediatrics (1 candidate per year, qualification post MD Paediatrics/ DNB Paediatrics).
  4. Nurses training in childhood cancer care: We conduct regular 1-month training programs for nurses working in new hospitals in all aspects of childhood cancer care. Nurses from other states have been referred to us for skill development in childhood cancer care. Our nurses have been involved as trainers and faculty for similar programs.
  5. Parent and patient awareness programs: We conduct patient and parent awareness programs in childhood cancer, hemophilia, thalassemia and other diseases treated in our department. We celebrate all festivals and birthdays with our patient families and strive to make their journey with us as comfortable as possible.
    • General OPD:
      daily (Mon-Sat, institute timings 9am-1pm)
    • Special OPD:

      • Monday: Thalassemia clinic
      Wednesday: Nutritional anemia clinic
      Thursday: Primary immune deficiency +BMT Clinic
      Friday: LTFU clinic (long term follow up of cancer patients)
      Saturday: Bleeding and thrombosis clinic

    • Other services:

      • Patient support program for Hemophilia (monthly)

Academic Events

  • Practical Paediatric Hematology Workshop Aug 2017
    Paediatric Hematology Oncology Nursing workshopSept 2018
  • CME on primary immune deficiencies Dec 2018
  • Patient support programs (regular)

    • Hemophilia
    Thalassemia
    Cancer awareness
    Nutritional anemia

Courses/ Training offered

2 year Fellowship in Paediatric Hematology Oncology under the aegis of Indian Academy of Paediatrics

Educative Material

Nutritional anemia
Diet in cancer patients

Research Projects

We have an active research program with both national and international collaborations.

Publications

Pubmed link: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/m/pubmed/?term=nita+radhakrishnan

Contact Details

Emergencies: 80-76889841 (PHO HELPLINE SSPHPGTI)
Email: pho@ssphpgti.ac.in, pho.ssphpgti@gmail.com, nitark@gmail.com

Future Plans

  1. To develop the department as a referral centre for children with blood diseases and cancers from UP and neighbouring states
  2. Develop research laboratories for diagnosis of primary immunodeficiency diseases, Hemophagocytic Lymphohistiocytosis, carrier detection and prenatal testing for thalassemia and hemophilia and evaluation of rare bleeding disorders
  3. Develop research collaborations with institutes of international and national acclaim which will help in developing indigenous solutions to difficult to treat diseases.