A new grant paves the way for UC San Francisco to train one of Mexico’s first molecular pediatric pathologists, providing access to better cancer detection and treatment for the thousands of children diagnosed with cancer in Mexico every year.
The St. Baldrick’s Foundation has awarded Alfonso Ramirez-Ristori, MD, a $330,000 grant to train at UCSF alongside Alejandro Sweet-Cordero, MD, a pediatric oncologist and Patrick Devine, MD, PhD, a pathologist. Thanks to a collaboration between UCSF’s Global Cancer Program and the UCSF Health Center for Clinical Genetics and Genomics, Ramirez-Ristori will learn how to perform gene-based testing and mutation sequencing, which are essential for identifying complex pediatric cancers and guiding the best treatment.
Why it Matters
After the training, Ramirez-Ristori will return to one of Mexico’s largest children’s cancer hospitals, the National Institute of Pediatrics in Mexico City, as one of the first fully trained molecular pediatric pathologist in Mexico. His work will help bring more specialized advanced cancer care to children there.
Need to Know
To effectively diagnose and treat today’s pediatric cancers, pathologists with training in the emerging field of molecular pathology help untangle the complex world of cancer. Molecular pathology advances cancer detection by identifying gene mutations and molecular markers that indicate cancerous disease.
Funding: The St. Baldrick’s Foundation, the largest funder of pediatric research.
