Research Summary

Dr. Lena Winestone is clinically focused on pediatric blood and marrow transplant for high risk leukemias. Dr. Winestone's research explores racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic disparities in access to care and outcome of leukemia and lymphoma treatment. She studies access to care across the continuum of pediatric cancer from diagnosis and clinical trial enrollment through treatment and relapse to salvage therapies. Her research has shown that African American children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia, acute myeloid leukemia, and mature B cell lymphoma are two times more likely to present with organ failure at the time of a new cancer diagnosis. Her ongoing work investigates access to highly specialized and complex therapies such as stem cell transplant, chimeric antigen receptor T cells, and MIBG therapy.

Research Funding

  • July 26, 2023 - June 30, 2028 - Multisite Implementation of COMPRENDO (ChildhOod Malignancy Peer REsearch NavigatiOn) to improve participation of Hispanic children in cancer clinical trials , Co-Investigator . Sponsor: NIH, Sponsor Award ID: R01CA279945
  • July 1, 2020 - June 30, 2026 - Barriers to Care Questionnaire for Pediatric Patients with Leukemia , Principal Investigator . Sponsor: American Cancer Society, American Society of Hematology, Sponsor Award ID:
  • February 1, 2020 - December 31, 2024 - Access to MIBG Therapy for High Risk Neuroblastoma Patients , Principal Investigator . Sponsor: Cannonball Kids' cancer, American Cancer Society, Sponsor Award ID:
  • June 15, 2020 - January 1, 2023 - Work Flexibility and Financial Impact Among Families of Children with Cancer , Supervisor . Sponsor: UCSF Clinical & Translational Science Institute, Sponsor Award ID:
  • June 1, 2017 - December 1, 2020 - In Depth Interviews regarding the Path to a Leukemia Diagnosis , Principal Investivator . Sponsor: Alex's Lemonade Stand Foundation, Bear Necessities Pediatric Cancer Foundation, Sponsor Award ID:

Education

University of Pennsylvania, B.A., 2000-2004, Biochemistry
University of Pennsylvania, M.S., 2002-2004, Immunology
Stanford University School of Medicine, M.D., 2005-2009, Medicine
Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital, Residency, 2009-2012, Pediatrics
The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, Fellowship, 2013-2016, Hematology/Oncology
University of Pennsylvania, M.S., 2014-2016, Health Policy

Honors & Awards

  • 2000
    Vagelos Scholars Fellowship in Molecular Life Sciences, University of Pennsylvania
  • 2004
    Helix Prize, University of Pennsylvania Biochemistry Program
  • 2006
    Medical Scholars Research Fellowship, Stanford Medical School
  • 2006
    Fulbright-Hays Fellowship–Intensive Advanced Swahili, U.S. Department of Education
  • 2007
    Traveling Scholar Research Fellowship, Stanford Medical School
  • 2008
    Foreign Language Area Studies Fellowship, U.S. Department of Education
  • 2010 - 2012
    Mary Duke Biddle Clinical Scholars Program
  • 2011 - 2012
    Yale/Stanford Johnson & Johnson Global Health Scholars Program
  • 2015
    Children's Oncology Group Young Investigator Abstract Award
  • 2015
    American Society of Hematology Abstract Achievement Award
  • 2016
    Paul Calabresi Career Development Award for Clinical Oncology, Abramson Cancer Center
  • 2016
    Clinical Research Training Institute, American Society of Hematology
  • 2016
    Alex's Lemonade Stand Foundation Young Investigator Award
  • 2016 - 2017
    Fellow Award, Bear Necessities Pediatric Cancer Foundation
  • 2022 - 2024
    Winn Diversity in Clinical Trials Award, BMSF
  • 2016 - 2019
    Young Investigator Award, Alex's Lemonade Stand Foundation
  • 2020 - 2022
    Fellow to Faculty Scholar Award, American Society of Hematology
  • 2022 - 2026
    Clinician Scientist Development Grant, American Cancer Society
  • 2022 - 2024
    Winn Diversity in Clinical Trials Award, BMSF

Selected Publications

  1. Newman H, Lee SHR, Pölönen P, Shraim R, Li Y, Liu H, Aplenc R, Bandyopadhyay S, Chen C, Devidas M, Diorio C, Dunsmore K, Elghawy O, Elhachimi A, Fuller T, Gupta S, Hall J, Hughes AD, Hunger SP, Loh ML, Martinez Z, McCoy MF, Mullen CG, Pounds SB, Raetz E, Seffernick AE, Shi G, Sussman J, Tan K, Uppuluri L, Vincent TL, Wang'ondu R, Winestone LE, Winter SS, Wood BL, Wu G, Xu J, Yang W, Mullighan CG, Yang JJ, Bona K, Teachey DT. Impact of Genetic Ancestry on Genomics and Survival Outcomes in T-cell Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia. Blood Cancer Discov. 2025 May 28.  View on PubMed
  2. Winestone LE, Yang J, Banerjee T, Sangaramoorthy M, Kahn J, Abrahão R, Keegan TH, Cheng I, Gomez SL, Shariff-Marco S. Impact of neighborhood archetypes on overall mortality among young patients with acute leukemia in California. Cancer. 2025 May 01; 131(9):e35863.  View on PubMed
  3. Karvonen KA, Vu A, Lin K, Gibbons J, Mendoza JA, Chow EJ, Winestone LE, Gomez SL. Historical redlining and mortality in children, adolescents, and young adults with cancer in California, 2000-2019. J Natl Cancer Inst. 2025 Apr 24.  View on PubMed
  4. Dvorak CC, Cho S, Salinas Cisneros G, Higham CS, Chu J, Winestone LE, Temple WC, Kharbanda S, Shimano KA, Avagyan S, Pauerstein PT, Huang JN, Cheng G, Lalefar N, Aguayo-Hiraldo P, Keizer RJ, Pulsipher MA, Long-Boyle JR. High Melphalan Exposure Increases the Risk of Graft-Versus-Host Disease in Pediatric Patients Undergoing Alpha-Beta T-Cell Depleted Haploidentical Transplantation. Transplant Cell Ther. 2025 Apr 02.  View on PubMed
  5. Desai S, Morimoto LM, Kang AY, Miller MD, Wiemels JL, Winestone LE, Metayer C. Pre- and Postnatal Exposures to Residential Pesticides and Survival of Childhood Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia. Cancers (Basel). 2025 Mar 14; 17(6).  View on PubMed
  6. Dvorak CC, Temple WC, Cisneros GS, Chu J, Winestone LE, Higham CS, Shimano KA, Kharbanda S, Avagyan S, Pauerstein P, Huang JN, Cheng G, Waters E, Winger BA, Cowan MJ, Long-Boyle JR. Younger children with nonmalignant disease have increased incidence of mixed myeloid chimerism after allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation with busulfan-based conditioning. Transplant Cell Ther. 2025 Apr; 31(4):259.e1-259.e15.  View on PubMed
  7. Christopher C. Dvorak, William C. Temple, Gabriel Salinas Cisneros, Julia Chu, Lena E. Winestone, Christine S. Higham, Kristin A. Shimano, Sandhya Kharbanda, Serine Avagyan, Michelle Hermiston, James N. Huang, Janel Renee Long-Boyle. Fludarabine Pharmacokinetic-Model-Based Dosing Minimizes the Risk of Graft Rejection in Pediatric Patients Undergoing Mismatched Allogeneic Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation. Transplantation and Cellular Therapy. 2025 Feb 1; 31(2):s173-s174.  View on PubMed
  8. Gabriel Salinas Cisneros, Janel Renee Long-Boyle, William C. Temple, Julia Chu, Serine Avagyan, Lena E. Winestone, Christine S. Higham, Kristin A. Shimano, James N. Huang, Michelle Hermiston, Sandhya Kharbanda, Christopher C. Dvorak. High Exposure of Intravenous Alemtuzumab Is Associated with Increased Risk of Double-Stranded DNA Viral Infections in Patients with Non-Malignant Disease Undergoing Allogeneic HCT. Transplantation and Cellular Therapy. 2025 Feb 1; 31(2):s186.  View on PubMed
  9. Karvonen KA, Doody DR, Barry D, Bona K, Winestone LE, Rosenberg AR, Mendoza JA, Schwartz SM, Chow EJ. Historical redlining and survival among children, adolescents, and young adults with cancer diagnosed between 2000-2019 in Seattle and Tacoma, Washington. Cancer. 2025 Feb 01; 131(3):e35677.  View on PubMed
  10. Lauren Appell, Arunkumar Modi, Christina Baggott, Khanh Nguyen, Snehit Prabhu, Holly L Pacenta, Vanessa A. Fabrizio, Christine L. Phillips, Jenna Rossoff, Heather Emily Stefanski, Julie A Talano, Amy Moskop, Rachel Phelan, Susanne Baumeister, Michael R. Verneris, Erin M. Hall, Gary Myers, Nicole Karras, Stacy Cooper, Muna Qayed, Sunil S. Raikar, Lena E. Winestone, Michelle Hermiston, Prakash Satwani, Christa Krupski, Amy K. Keating, Danielle Friedman, Kevin J. Curran, Crystal L. Mackall, Samuel John, Theodore W Laetsch, Kevin Owen McNerney, Liora Schultz. Liberalizing Requirements for Hospital Proximity Post-CD19 CAR for Children with Low Burden B-ALL at Infusion. Transplantation and Cellular Therapy. 2025 Feb 1; 31(2):s230-s231.  View on PubMed
  11. Neel Bhatt, Elizabeth M. Hellewell, Kevin Ng, Ted A. Gooley, Allison O. Taylor, Sanghee Hong, Anthony Sung, Nausheen Ahmed, Cherie Morey, Sarah Fitzmaurice, Vanessa E Kennedy, Michelle Lauer, Andrew D. Trunk, Betty K. Hamilton, Akshay Sharma, Zoey Phelps-Bergeron, LaQuisa C. Hill, Rawan Faramand, Hien Liu, Lena E. Winestone, Geoffrey Cheng, Manuel R. Espinoza-Gutarra, Omer Jamy, Maria Silvina Odstrcil Bobillo, Brian McClune, Mariam T. Nawas, Samuel J. Yates, Miki Nishitani, Takuto Takahashi, Jane Koo, Kasiani Myers, Kris Michael Mahadeo, Andrea Bauchat, Laurie Pearson, Ritika Walia, Kelsea Seago, Spencer Yingling, Cory Edgar, Amy Browning, Catherine J. Lee. Real-World Assessment of Patient Adherence to the Late Effects Screening Recommendations Among Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation Survivors. Transplantation and Cellular Therapy. 2025 Feb 1; 31(2):s364-s365.  View on PubMed
  12. Steineck A, Chao K, Hall AG, Jacoby E, Leahy AB, Ligon JA, Luciani K, Schultz LM, Summers CN, Ward L, Winestone LE, Shah NN. Access to CARe: A Narrative of Real-World Medical Decision-Making to Access Chimeric Antigen Receptor (CAR) T-Cell Therapy in Children, Adolescents, and Young Adults. Pediatr Blood Cancer. 2025 Apr; 72(4):e31516.  View on PubMed
  13. Ghilardi G, Hasanali ZS, Susanibar-Adaniya SP, Winestone LE, Ruella M, Garfall AL. Association of age, race, and ethnicity with access, response, and toxicities from CAR-T therapy in children and adults with B-cell malignancies: a review. J Immunother Cancer. 2025 Jan 23; 13(1).  View on PubMed
  14. Ragavan MV, Mora RV, Nipp R, Winestone LE. Band-Aids Can Still Help Heal: The Role of Patient Financial Assistance Programs in Addressing Financial Toxicity. JCO Oncol Pract. 2025 Jan; 21(1):73-77.  View on PubMed
  15. Catherine J. Lee, Elizabeth M Hellewell, Kevin Ng, Ted Gooley, Anthony D. Sung, Allison O. Taylor, Sanghee Hong, Nausheen Ahmed, Cherie Morey, Sarah Fitzmaurice, Vanessa E. Kennedy, Michelle Lauer, Andrew D. Trunk, Betty K. Hamilton, Akshay Sharma, Zoey Phelps-Bergeron, LaQuisa Hill, Rawan Faramand, Hien Liu, Lena E Winestone, Geoffrey Cheng, Manuel Espinoza-Gutarra, Omer Jamy, Maria Odstrcil Bobillo, Brian McClune, Mariam T. Nawas, Samuel J. Yates, Miki Nishitani, Takuto Takahashi, Jane Koo, Kasiani Myers, Kris Michael Mahadeo, Andrea Bauchat, Laurie K Pearson, Ritika Walia, Kelsea Seago, Spencer Yingling, Cory Edgar, Amy Browning, Neel Bhatt. Clinician Adherence to Screening and Preventive Practices for Non-Malignant Late Effects Among Allogeneic Hematopoietic Cell Transplant Survivors in the United States. Blood. 2024 Nov 5; 144(Supplement 1):2170.  View on PubMed
  16. John A Ligon, Deepa Bhojwani, Alice Dang, Lingyun Ji, Susan R Rheingold, Xinxin Xu, Meenakshi Devidas, John A. Kairalla, Mary Shago, Nyla A. Heerema, Andrew J. Carroll, Michael J. Borowitz, Brent L. Wood, Naomi J. Winick, William L. Carroll, Stephen P. Hunger, Elizabeth A. Raetz, Mignon L. Loh, Sumit Gupta, Lena E Winestone. Examining Disparities By Race, Ethnicity, and Socioeconomic Factors in Children and Young Adults with Relapsed Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia: A Report from the Children's Oncology Group. Blood. 2024 Nov 5; 144(Supplement 1):2797-2797.  View on PubMed
  17. Chynna M. Swift, Earl Chism, Katherine Lin, Lena E Winestone. Investigating Neighborhood Socioeconomic Status and Acuity of Illness Presentation in Children with Acute Leukemia. Blood. 2024 Nov 5; 144(Supplement 1):7746-7746.  View on PubMed
  18. Neel S. Bhatt, Elizabeth M Hellewell, Kevin Ng, Ted Gooley, Anthony D. Sung, Allison O. Taylor, Sanghee Hong, Nausheen Ahmed, Cherie Morey, Sarah Fitzmaurice, Vanessa E. Kennedy, Michelle Lauer, Andrew D. Trunk, Betty K. Hamilton, Akshay Sharma, Zoey Phelps-Bergeron, LaQuisa Hill, Rawan Faramand, Hien Liu, Lena E Winestone, Geoffrey Cheng, Manuel Espinoza-Gutarra, Omer Jamy, Maria Odstrcil Bobillo, Brian McClune, Mariam T. Nawas, Samuel J. Yates, Miki Nishitani, Takuto Takahashi, Jane Koo, Kasiani Myers, Kris Michael Mahadeo, Andrea Bauchat, Laurie K Pearson, Ritika Walia, Kelsea Seago, Spencer Yingling, Cory Edgar, Amy Browning, Catherine J. Lee. Real-World Clinician Adherence to Screening and Preventive Practices Guidelines for Subsequent Neoplasms Among Allogeneic Hematopoietic Cell Transplant Survivors in the United States. Blood. 2024 Nov 5; 144(Supplement 1):4921.  View on PubMed
  19. Santacroce SJ, Beauchemin MP, Pelletier W, Robles JM, Ruiz J, Blazin LJ, Aristizabal P, Orjuela-Grimm M, Hall AG, Kahn J, Kline C, Seif AE, Velez MC, Winestone LE. Multilevel challenges to equitable inclusion of children in trials when parents use languages other than English: A qualitative report from Children's Oncology Group's Diversity and Health Disparities Committee Language Equity Working Group. Pediatr Blood Cancer. 2024 Nov; 71(11):e31321.  View on PubMed
  20. Teachey D, Newman H, Lee S, Pölönen P, Shraim R, Li Y, Liu H, Aplenc R, Bandyopadhyay S, Chen C, Chen Z, Devidas M, Diorio C, Dunsmore K, Elghawy O, Elhachimi A, Fuller T, Gupta S, Hall J, Hughes A, Hunger S, Loh M, Martinez Z, McCoy M, Mullen C, Pounds S, Raetz E, Ryan T, Seffernick A, Shi G, Sussman J, Tan K, Uppuluri L, Vincent TL, Wang'ondu R, Winestone L, Winter S, Wood B, Wu G, Xu J, Yang W, Mullighan C, Yang J, Bona K. Impact of Genetic Ancestry on T-cell Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia Outcomes. Res Sq. 2024 Aug 16.  View on PubMed

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