SIOP North America/SLAOP Pre-Congress
Jointly organized by SIOP North America and SLAOP (SIOP Latin America)
Dates: September 13 – 14, 2026
Venue: University of Texas San Antonio (UTSA)
Buena Vista Street Building
501 W. Cesar Chavez Blvd
San Antonio, TX 78207, USA
Website
Registration Information:
Registration for the pre-congress event and the subsequent networking dinner is available as an add-on option through the main SIOP 2026 Congress Registration Portal. Please ensure that you select the “SIOP North America/SLAOP Pre-Congress” option during your booking to secure your seat, as well as for the Networking dinner.
Please Note: If you cannot join both the SIOP Int main congress and SIOP North America/SLAOP pre-congress, please email [email protected] for separate registration.
Hosted by:
Fees*
- US $100 registration fee for physicians
- US $50 for nurses, allied health professionals, trainees, and advocates
* Includes lunch, coffee breaks, and attendance to all sessions
Networking Dinner:
- Date: Monday, September 14
- Venue: UTSA Southwest Campus, Coates Chapel, 300 Augusta St, San Antonio, TX 78205, USA
- Fee: US $35
Sunday, September 13, 2026
7:30 AM – Breakfast
8:45 AM – Opening Session
Dr. Jeffrey Dome; Dra. Milena Villarroel; Dr. Chatchawin Assanasen; Lisa Montoya, PhD — Welcome and logistics
9:00 AM – Plenary Session 1: Therapy Limiting Toxicities and Metabolic Barriers in Hispanic Children With ALL: A Call for Precision Approaches (Sponsored by MEDAC)
Moderator: Lourdes Vega, MD
Oscar González-Ramella, MD, PhD — Asparaginase LATAM Consensus
Scott Howard, MD, MSc — Management of asparaginase toxicities
Paula Schaiquevich, PharmD, PhD — Model informed precision dosing of high-dose methotrexate: from theory to practice
Terrie Flatt, DO, MA — Making an Old Drug New Again: Personalizing 6-Mercaptopurine Therapy
10:30 AM – Break
10:45 AM – Track 1 — Collaborative Molecular Tumor Board Across the Americas: Translating Genomics to Clinical Care
Moderator: Jacqueline Kraveka, MD
Giselle Saulnier Sholler, MD — Where We Are: From One Program to a Global Network — Building and Scaling Molecular Tumor Boards in Pediatric Oncology
Natalia Halley, MD — What We Need: Overcoming Access, Infrastructure, and Implementation Challenges
Scott Howard, MD — What We Want: Connecting the World Through Precision Medicine — Global Networks for Childhood Cancer Care
10:45 AM – Track 2 — Addressing Inequities in Access to Essential Childhood Cancer Medicines: Evidence and Implementation Experiences
Moderator: Edith Grynszpancholc
Milena Villarroel, MD — Introduction Advocacy Chapter SLAOP
Liliana Vasquez, MD, MSc — Current Status of Global and Regional Initiatives to Improve Access to Essential Childhood Cancer Medicines
Paula Schaiquevich, PharmD — Pharmacovigilance and the Quality of Essential Childhood Cancer Medicines
Michael Ganio, PharmD, MS, BCPS, CPHIMS — Experiences and Lessons Learned from Childhood Cancer Medicine Shortages
12:15 PM – Lunch Break
1:30 PM – Track 1 — Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia: Toward a Unified Approach
Moderator: Oscar Ramirez, MD, MPhil
Rob Pieters, MD — How to treat infants with ALL: the Interfant experience
Cesar Nunez, MD — Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia: Improving survival through combination of chemotherapy and immunotherapy
Oscar González-Ramella, MD, PhD — Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia in Latin America: Bridging the GAP toward better outcomes
1:30 PM – Track 2 — Mental Health Considerations for the Adolescent and Young Adult (AYA) Population
Moderator: Elisa Perina, PhD
Laura Bava, PsyD, ABPP — Early identification of mental health intervention needs in AYAs with cancer
Mariana Nana, MD — Relapses and Second Cancers in Adolescents and Young Adults: Psychological Impact of Starting Over
Laura Fernandez, SW — Relapses and Second Cancers in Adolescents and Young Adults: Psychological Impact of Starting Over
Camila Cortes, MD, PsyD — Relapses and Second Cancers in Adolescents and Young Adults: Psychological Impact of Starting Over
3:00 PM – Break
3:15 PM – Track 1 — Central Nervous System Germ Cell Tumors Across the Americas
Moderator: Adriana Fonseca Sheridan, MD; Carlos Narvaez, MD
Ching Lau, MD, PhD — Understanding CNSGCT Biology: Development, Epigenetics, and Methylation
Anthony Liu, MD — From tumor genome to CSF signal: personalizing CNSGCT care
Andrea Cappellano, MD, PhD — CNSGCT in Latin America: Current Practice and Future Perspectives
Mohamed Abdelbaki, MD — CNSGCT in North America: Similarities and Differences with Europe and Asia
3:15 PM Track 2 — See Differently, Treat Differently: The Art-in-Medicine Revolution
Moderator: Elisa Perina, PhD; Leanne Embry, PhD
Marie Deschamps, PhD, LPC-A, ATR-P — See Differently, Treat Differently: The Art-in-Medicine Revolution
Luiz Lopes, MD, PhD — See Differently, Treat Differently: The Art-in-Medicine Revolution
Carolina Galaz — The Art of Seeing What Cannot Be Seen: At the End of Life Expressive Arts Reveal What Medicine Cannot Reach
Michael McNeil, MD, MPH — The Art of Seeing What Cannot Be Seen: At the End of Life Expressive Arts Reveal What Medicine Cannot Reach
Monday, September 14, 2026
7:30 AM – Breakfast
9:00 AM – Track 1 — Perspectives and Challenges for the Management of Retinoblastoma in the Americas
Moderator: Guillermo Chantada, MD, PhD
Sidnei Epelman, MD — Early diagnosis campaigns
Jasmine Francis, MD — Advanced Frontiers in Ocular Preservation
Guillermo Chantada, MD, PhD — Precision Risk-Stratification
Ira J Dunkel, MD — Tackling Extraocular Disease
9:00 AM – Track 2 — Time to Antibiotics in Neutropenic Fever: Reasons for Regional Differences
Moderator: Miguela Caniza, MD, MPH
Adam Esbenshade, MD, MSCI — Time to antibiotics and empiric antibiotic management for pediatric oncology patients in high-income countries
Paola Friedrich, MD, MPH — Evaluating infection management including time to antibiotics in Latin America
Miguel Angel Minero Hibert, MD — Bridging Evidence and Practice: The PRINCIPAL Network Experience in Febrile Neutropenia Management Across Latin American Contexts
10:30 AM – Break
10:45 AM – Track 1 — Immunotherapy for Brain Tumors and Extra-Cranial Solid Tumors
Moderator: Carolina Camargo Vinci, MD; Eugene Hwang, MD
Lorena Baroni, MD — Immunotherapy for Pediatric CNS Tumors
Amy Hont, MD — Advancing Adoptive Cell Therapy to Treat Patients with High-Risk Solid Tumors
10:45 AM – Track 2 — Closing the Equity Gap: Childhood Cancer Care in Indigenous Populations in the Region of the Americas
Moderator: Liliana Vasquez, MD, MSc
Claudia Sampor, MD — Closing the knowledge gap: A situational analysis of childhood cancer in indigenous populations of the Amazon basin
Luiz Fernando Lopes, MD, PhD — Brazil: current situation and ongoing initiatives
Andrés Portilla, MD — Colombia: current situation and ongoing initiatives
12:15 PM – Lunch Break
12:15-1:15 PM – Lunch Session
Launch of the CureAll Americas Monitoring & Evaluation Toolkit and Regional Observatory
Location: Luna Assembly Room, Buena Vista Street Building
Organizers: PAHO, St. Jude Global, SLAOP, in collaboration with regional partners
1:30 PM – Track 1 — Treatment for Wilms Tumor Across SLAOP and SIOP-NA Settings: Current Status and Future Directions (Sponsored by the Wilms Cancer Foundation)
Moderator: James Geller, MD
Jeffrey Dome, MD, PhD — Current Status and Challenges in Treatment of Wilms Tumor in North America
Joaquim Caetano de Aguirre Neto, MD, MS — Current Status and Challenges in Treatment of Wilms Tumor in Latin America
TJ Hodgkinson / Wills Hodgkinson — Wilms Tumor: Global Advocacy Initiatives & the Patient, Parent Perspective
1:30 PM – Track 2 — Children with Cancer on the Move: Cross Border Challenges and Opportunities in Care Provision (Sponsored by PAHO)
Moderator: Manuela Orjuela, MD, ScM
Roberta Ortiz Sequeira, MD, MPH — The WHO perspective: working with international partners for continuation of childhood cancer care
Liliana Vasquez, MD, MSc — The PAHO perspective: working with regional partners for continuation of childhood cancer care
Emma Concha, MD — Cross border challenges and opportunities in childhood cancer care provision in Santiago, Chile
Nestor Mauricio Mesa Rincon, MD, M Edu — Cross border challenges and opportunities in childhood cancer care provision in Bogotá, Colombia
Manuela Orjuela, MD, ScM (also Moderator) — Cross border challenges and opportunities in childhood cancer care provision in New York City, US
3:00 PM – Break
3:15 PM – Plenary Session 2 — Advancing Childhood Cancer Survivorship Care in Latin America: Care Delivery Models and Physician-Nursing Partnerships
Moderator: David Noyd, MD, MPH
Matthew Ehrhardt, MS — Global delivery of evidence-based survivorship care
Monica Cypriano, MD — Building a Survivorship Care Model in Latin America: The GRAACC Experience
Monica Quijana-Lievano, RN, MSN — Strengthening Physician–Nurse Partnerships for Long-Term Follow-Up of Childhood Cancer Survivors in the Americas
4:45 PM – Closing Session
Dr. Jeffrey Dome; Dra. Milena Villarroel
7:00 PM – Networking Reception
Sponsors:
We thank our partners for their support.
Questions?
For inquiries regarding this pre-congress event, please contact: [email protected]