Susan R. Rheingold, MD

faculty photo
Professor of Clinical Pediatrics (Oncology)
Department: Pediatrics

Contact information
The Hub for Clinical Collaboration
(Oncology/3/3521)
3500 Civic Center Blvd
Philadelphia, PA 19104
Office: 215 590-3079
Education:
B.A.
Dartmouth College (magna cum laude), 1988.
M.D.
University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, 1992.
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Description of Research Expertise

Integral to providing the best care for patients with ALL is being able to translate the latest drug discoveries from the bench to the bedside and having a full understanding of the best mechanisms to do so. I continue to use my clinical expertise to advise on the management of relapsed patients in the innovative clinical trials open at CHOP. Noticing that CAR-T cells cross into the CNS I collaborated with Stephan Grupp, MD, PhD to add a CNS ALL treatment cohort to the original CAR T-cell trial. I have also collaborated with the physicians at HUP to offer the CD-19 mRNA CART trial for relapsed Hodgkin’s Lymphoma at CHOP.

I have followed through on several clinical research projects that were funded prior to my promotion to Associate Professor, including co-authoring several publications from the R01 supported study of the consent process for early phase clinical trials. A clinical trial based upon a former LLS Translational Research grant of mTOR inhibitors has completed accrual and has been prepared for publication. The former funding also supported the development of a Phase 1 trial at TACL combining temsirolimus with cyclophosphamide and etoposide.

Description of Clinical Expertise

The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia has one of the largest childhood and adolescent ALL programs in the world for which I serve as the clinical lead. In this role I am the institutional principal investigator (PI) for the majority of national Children’s Oncology Group (COG) ALL trials of which CHOP is one of the lead enrollers. I oversee the clinical care provided as part of these trials, in addition to overseeing the care of all other children with ALL treated at CHOP. In this role, I work closely with nurses, fellows and attendings in our division to make sure these children are provided the best care available nationally. I see the majority of second opinions referred to CHOP for newly diagnosed and relapsed ALL, as well as communicate by email and phone with outside pediatric oncologists looking for advice on treatment in complex ALL cases.

I serve as the Oncology Inpatient attending 4-6 weeks a year, with 6-10 weeks of partial day inpatient coverage. In addition to outpatient clinic scheduled one day a week, I see 2-3 new patients for second opinions or to enroll on clinical trials for relapsed leukemia. I have been recognized regularly as a “Top Doctor” by Philadelphia magazine.

Although I oversee the care of all patients with ALL my major focus is improving the therapies and cure rates of children and adolescents with relapsed and refractory disease. As a busy clinician, I provide a clinical point of view as an active member of the COG Relapsed ALL Committee and the national study committees for four consecutive COG relapsed ALL trials. I have also served as the PI for several industry trials for promising drugs that subsequently obtained FDA approval. To expand access to novel drug and innovative therapies for relapsed hematologic malignancies, I have worked to have CHOP accepted to the Therapeutic Advances in Childhood Leukemia (TACL) consortium.

With my strong training in clinical and translational research I have strived to create a nationally recognized program for the treatment of relapsed hematologic malignancies at CHOP. To that end I was an integral member of the team that treated the first patient with ALL with chimeric antigen receptor T cell therapy (CAR T-cell). Since that time I have remained the clinical liaison for all incoming inquiries and see over 80% of new CAR T-cell patients during their initial visit. I work closely with referring physicians to get the patients to CHOP in a timely fashion and then collaborate after T cell collection and help manage therapy from afar in the 2-3 month wait time until actual infusion.

Selected Publications

Johnson L, Leek AC, Drotar D, Noll RB, Rheingold SR, Kodish ED, Baker JN. : Practical communication guidance to improve phase I informed consent conversations and end-of-life decision-making in pediatric oncology. Cancer 121(14): 2439-48, July 2015 Notes: Epub 2015 April 14.

Shannon ML, Frey N, Shaw PA, Aplenc R, Barrett DM, Bunin NJ, Chew A, Gonzalez VE, Zheng Z, Lacey SF, Mahnke YD, Melenhorst JJ, Rheingold SR, Shen A, Teachey DT, Levine BL, June CH, Porter DL, Grupp SA: Chimeric antigen receptor T cells for sustained remissions in leukemia. New England Journal of Medicine 368(16): 1509-18, April 2014.

Plourde PV, Jeha S, Hijiya N, Keller FG, Silverman LB, Rheingold SR, Dreyer ZE, Dahl GV, Mercedes T, Lai C, Corn T: Safety profile of asparaginase Erwinia chrysanthemi in a large compassionate-use trial. Pediatr Blood Cancer 61(7): 1232-8, July 2014.

Fisher Brian T, Harris Tracey, Torp Kari, Seif Alix E, Shah Ami, Huang Yuan-Shung V, Bailey L Charles, Kersun Leslie S, Reilly Anne F, Rheingold Susan R, Walker Dana, Li Yimei, Aplenc Richard: Establishment of an 11-Year cohort of 8733 pediatric patients hospitalized at United States free-standing Children's hospitals with de novo acute lymphoblastic leukemia from health care administrative data. Medical Care 52(1): 1-6, January 2014.

Seif AE, Fisher BT, Li Y, Torp K, Rheam DP, Huang YV, Harris T, Shah A, Hall M, Fieldston E, Vujkovic M, Bailey C, Kersun LS, Reilly AF, Rheingold SR, Walker DS, Aplenc R. : Patient and hospital factors associated with induction mortality in acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Pediatr Blood Cancer 61(5): 846-52, March 2014.

Sacks N, Hwang W-T, Lange BJ, Tan K-S, Sandler ES, Rogers PC, Womer RB, and Rheingold SR: Proactive enteral tube feeding in pediatric patients undergoing chemotherapy. Pediatr Blood Cancer 61(2): 281-5, February 2014.

Maude SL, Fitzgerald JC, Fisher BT, Li Y, Huang Y-S, Torp K, Seif AE, Kavcic M, Walker DM, Leckerman KH, Kilbaugh TJ, Rheingold SR, Sung L, Zaoutis TE, Berg RA, Nadkarni VM, Thomas NJ, Aplenc RA: Outcome of pediatric acute myeloid leukemia patients receiving intensive care in the United States. Pediatr Crit Care Med 15(2): 112-20, February 2014.

Baker JN, Leek AC, Salas HS, Drotar D, Noll R, Rheingold SR, Kodish ED. : Suggestions from adolescents, young adults, and parents for improving informed consent in phase 1 pediatric oncology trials. Cancer 119(23): 4154-61, December 2013.

Borst Alexandra J, States Lisa J, Reilly Anne F, Rheingold Susan R: Determining response and recurrence in pediatric B-cell lymphomas of the bone. Pediatr Blood Cancer 60(8): 1281-6, August 2013.

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Last updated: 02/09/2024
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