The Tommy Fund for Childhood Cancer acts as a helping hand to the pediatric oncology section of the department of pediatrics at the Yale School of Medicine, the Yale-New Haven Children’s Hospital and the Yale Cancer Center, working alongside the dedicated professionals in the field.Through their collaborative efforts, they are able to diagnose and provide treatment to children with blood disorders and malignancies, conduct research and teaching in the field of childhood cancer, and support entire families throughout a child’s treatment.

Childhood cancer

One in every 330 children in the United States develops cancer before the age of 19. The pediatric oncology staff at the Yale-New Haven Children’s Hospital (YNHCH) treats more children with cancer than any other facility in the state. YNHCH sees about 60 new cases of childhood cancer yearly and follows approximately 250 patients from diagnosis, through treatment and to helping children re-enter the mainstream after treatment.

Over the past 30 years, dramatic gains have been made in the area of hematology/oncology – in clinical and laboratory research, diagnostic procedures, surgery, chemotherapy and radiation therapy – which has led to a current cure rate above 70 percent for most forms of childhood cancer.

Tommy Fund-supported programs:

• Funding for direct and indirect financial assistance to families deaing with childhood cancer

• Funding of fellowships in pediatric oncology

• Funding for a pediatric social worker

• Funding for child life and a child life specialist

• Funding professional development seminars for physicians and nurses

• The “Making Clinic Bearable” campaign

• Support groups for patients, parents and siblings

• Creating the “Quiet Room,” a refuge for parents in the Pediatric Specialty Center

• The “Kids Helping Kids Fight Cancer” program with area schools, raising money, toys and hats for pediatric cancer patients

• Funding of the HERO’s Clinic for long-term survivors of childhood cancer

• Funding recreational equipment in the pediatric specialty center and inpatient units

• Sponsoring the annual holiday party for patients, family and staff

 Watch the Tommy fund video to learn more