Integrative Medicine in Pediatric Oncology

This product is free for ON DPG members.

This webinar was presented live on January 20, 2021.

This webinar focuses on the use of integrative medicine in Pediatric Oncology. In this webinar, Dr. Elena Ladas will establish definitions of integrative medicine and examine the use of integrative medicine by sharing programmatic examples within Pediatric Oncology. This webinar will also cover research in integrative medicine within Pediatric Oncology and the application of integrative medicine in the clinical setting.

CPEU: 1
Learning Need Codes: 5150, 5420, 2010
Performance Indicators: 8.1.2, 8.1.4, 8.3.6, 10.4.4

Learning Objectives

1. Understand definitions of integrative medicine.
2. Recognize use of integrative medicine and application in the clinical setting
3. Identify Research approaches in integrative medicine

Speaker

Elena J. Ladas, PhD, RD

Dr. Elena J. Ladas is the Sid and Helaine Lerner Associate Professor for Global Integrative Medicine in the Division of Pediatric Hematology/Oncology/Stem Cell Transplant at Columbia University Irving Medical Center (CUIMC). Dr. Ladas received a Master’s degree in nutrition biochemistry from the Institute of Human Nutrition at CUIMC and holds a PhD in nutrition epidemiology from Columbia University. She is also a registered dietician.

Dr. Ladas is a clinical investigator with an expertise in the clinical integration and scientific evaluation of nutrition and complementary/ alternative medicine in pediatric oncology. Dr. Ladas is the Director of the Integrative Therapies Program and Co-Director of the Center for Comprehensive Wellness (CCW), where she is responsible for the clinical oversight and research portfolio of nutrition and integrative therapies. Dr. Ladas is the principal investigator on a number of multi-institutional studies that evaluate the role of nutrition and integrative therapies, as components of supportive care, during and after treatment for childhood cancer. Specifically, she is evaluating the influence of dietary intake on the development of nutrition-related morbidities (such as obesity) in children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia through a collaboration with the Dana Farber ALL Consortium. Dr. Ladas serves as the Chair of the nutrition committee of Children’s Oncology Group (COG), and is the principal investigator of an R01-funded study that is investigating the role of probiotic therapy on the development of gastrointestinal acute graft-versus-host disease among children and adolescents undergoing hematopoietic cell transplantation. Dr. Ladas also leads a multi-institution study evaluating the clinical effects of perturbations to the microbiome among children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia.

Within CUIMC, Dr. Ladas and her integrative team are also evaluating the role of integrative medicine and their safe, evidenced-based application in symptom management for children and adolescents with cancer and hematologic disorders. Under her leadership, the integrative therapies program has emerged as an internationally-recognized integrative program serving as a model for integration into other pediatric cancer units.