The American Family Children’s Hospital (AFCH) is a $100 million facility located in Madison, WI which provides world-class medical care to children and young adults in a comforting and friendly environment. The 111-bed facility was constructed in 2007 and houses a level 1 trauma center, surgical pavilion, pediatric sedation program, nationally recognized transplant program, and a Children’s Cancer Center which includes an 131I-MIBG treatment suite. AFCH employs 262 physicians and is part of UW Health, the integrated health system of the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, which ranks among the finest academic medical centers in the United States. AFCH is also part of the University of Wisconsin Carbone Comprehensive Cancer Center (UWCCC), the only NCI-designated cancer center in the state of Wisconsin. UWCCC encompasses approximately 390,000 square feet of contiguous space which includes the Wisconsin Institute for Medical Research and the McArdle Research Laboratories, and provides consultation, treatment, and follow-up care for 30,000 patients annually.

The Division of Pediatric Hematology, Oncology and Bone Marrow Transplant provides compassionate, state-of the art, family-centered care to children and young adults with a wide variety of oncologic, hematologic and vascular disorders. The Division includes 10 board-certified pediatric hematologists/oncologists, 3 advanced practice nurses, 6 clinical research associates and a research RN. Our program is ranked by USNWR, and has been designated 1 of 10 U.S. Centers of Excellence for the treatment of neuroblastoma. Our faculty are active members of the UWCCC, the Program for Advanced Cellular Therapy (a GMP facility), and the Wisconsin Blood Cancer Research Institute. Our faculty’s clinical and translational research programs are focused on the development of novel CAR T cell, monoclonal antibody, and ex-vivo activated/expanded natural killer cell therapies. We are also investigating the combined use of immunotherapy and molecular-targeted radiotherapeutics, such as 131I-MIBG and 90Y-NM600.

Dr. Kenneth DeSantes received his undergraduate degree in Biology at the State University of New York in Albany. He received a Master of Science degree in Immunology at the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor, and his Medical Degree at New York Medical College. He completed his pediatric residency training at Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles, and his pediatric hematology/oncology fellowship training at Seattle Children’s Hospital and the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center. Dr. DeSantes worked in the Division of Bone Marrow Transplantation at the University of California, San Francisco for 7 years prior to joining the University of Wisconsin faculty in 1998. He was designated the Crawford Professor of Pediatric Oncology in 2016, and served as Division Head for Pediatric Hematology/Oncology and BMT from 2016 to 2023. He is currently Director of the UW Pediatric Marrow Transplant and Cellular Therapy program. Dr. DeSantes’ research interests are focused on use of immunotherapy and molecular targeted radiotherapy to treat children with relapsed cancer. He established an 131I-MIBG treatment program at AFCH in 2007, and is currently leading a UW clinical trial exploring the combined use of 131I-MIBG, nivolumab and dinutuximab beta to treat relapsed/refractory neuroblastoma. He led a phase 1 clinical trial, conducted by the Stand Up to Cancer/St. Baldricks Pediatric Oncology Dream Team, investigating the use of MGA271 (an anti-B7-H3 mAb), for the treatment of relapsed pediatric cancers. He has pioneered the use of haploidentical stem cell transplant to treat children with relapsed solid tumors and is developing a clinical trial utilizing ex-vivo activated and expanded allogeneic NK cells, combined with an anti-GD2 mAb, for treatment of recurrent neuroblastoma and osteogenic sarcoma. Dr. DeSantes has served on several NCCN panels for pediatric cancer and has received Team Science Awards from the Society of Immunotherapy for Cancer (SITC) and the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR).

Dr. Richards is the POETIC site PI from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where she is an Assistant Professor in the Division of Pediatric Hematology, Oncology, and Bone Marrow Transplant. She completed her Residency in Pediatrics at Seattle Children’s Hospital/University of Washington, and her Fellowship in Pediatric Hematology/Oncology at Stanford University. Her clinical focus includes high-risk leukemia, immunotherapy, and bone marrow transplant. She runs a research lab with a focus on developing CAR T cells for patients with acute myeloid leukemia, and is passionate about translating these discoveries to the clinic so more patients can benefit from immunotherapies. She is part of the Immunotherapy Working Group within POETIC.