For Tara Henderson, MD, MPH, her love of science began at an early age. So did her desire for a career that would make an impact in the world. But it wasn’t until high school, when she was placed in a cancer research laboratory, that she discovered her true calling: to help people with cancer live longer, healthier lives.

Today, Dr. Henderson is a pediatric oncologist, researcher, and champion for childhood cancer survivors. She runs the University of Chicago Medicine’s long-term survivor clinic, where she works to tackle the health problems young patients with cancer face long after they’ve been cured of the disease. 

Dr. Henderson’s research, much of which is funded by the federal government, is in pursuit of a singular goal: to improve pediatric survivors’ health and quality of life. She works to find survivors at highest risk for acquiring second cancers; develops interventions to help ensure they receive appropriate, comprehensive health care as adults; and follows them for years to determine whether it’s possible to reduce their therapy, thereby minimizing the long-term consequences of treatment.

Through the NCI-funded Children’s Oncology Group, Dr. Henderson collaborates with researchers across the world to understand the lingering effects of treatments for children with high-risk neuroblastoma, the most common cancer in babies. She also receives federal funding to research a new, targeted treatment for Hodgkin lymphoma and evaluate its cost-effectiveness compared to the current standard of care.

Dr. Henderson wakes up every day excited to make progress against pediatric cancer and ensure that more kids go on to live healthy lives. She’s also proud to help advance the field of pediatric oncology, which she considers to be among the greatest success stories in all of medicine.

Learn more about ASCO’s I Live to Conquer Cancer campaign and get involved today.