Sarah Kathleen Tasian MD

Pediatric Hematologic Oncology

Associate Professor of Pediatrics; Children's Hospital of Philadelphia and University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine

Summary

Sarah K. Tasian, MD is a pediatric oncologist and physician-scientist at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine who is interested in development of molecularly-targeted therapeutics for children with high-risk leukemias. She is a graduate of the University of Notre Dame (BS, BA) and Baylor College of Medicine (MD), and she trained in Pediatrics at Seattle Children’s Hospital and in Pediatric Hematology-Oncology at University of California, San Francisco (UCSF). She specialises in the clinical care of children with hematologic malignancies and is an internationally-recognized expert in pediatric ALL and AML. Her bench-to-bedside and bedside-back-to-bench translational laboratory research program focuses upon testing of kinase inhibitors and chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cell immunotherapies in genetic subsets of childhood ALL and AML. Dr Tasian has leadership roles in the Children’s Oncology Group (COG) ALL and Myeloid Diseases committees and Leukemia Lymphoma Society PedAL/EuPAL consortium, is the COG Developmental Therapeutics committee Vice-Chair of Biology for Hematologic Malignancies, and leads or co-leads several national or international early phase clinical trials testing precision medicine therapies in children with high-risk leukemias.

University of California (San Francisco)Fellowship, Pediatric Hematology/Oncology, 2007 - 2011
University of WashingtonResidency, Pediatrics, 2004 - 2007
Baylor College of MedicineClass of 2004
Howard Hughes Medical Institute-National Institutes of Health Research Scholars ProgramResearch fellowship, Tumor immunology, 2001 - 2002

PubMed

Ontogeny Dictates Oncogenic Potential, Lineage Hierarchy, and Therapy Response in Pediatric Leukemia.
Ke Wang, Shayan Saniei, Nikita Poddar, Isabella G Martinez, Clifford Chao
Cancer Discovery. 2026-03-02
Concurrent Juvenile Myelomonocytic Leukemia and Gliomas in Patients With Neurofibromatosis Type 1.
Henry Hongo, Sarah K Tasian, Alix E Seif, Jenna Rossoff, Alicia Lenzen
Pediatric Blood & Cancer. 2026-02-01
SKIDA1 sustains MLL::ENL-expressing hematopoietic progenitors during neonatal stages and promotes B-lineage priming.
Jonny Mendoza-Castrejon, Wei Yang, Elisabeth Denby, Rohini Muthukumar, Emily B Casey
Blood Neoplasia. 2026-02-01

Journal Articles

Targeting EIF4E Signaling with Ribavirin in Infant Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia
Nyla A Heerema, James W Davenport, Carolyn A Felix, Andrew J Carroll, ZoAnn E Dreyer, Alix E Seif, David T Teachey, Joanne M Hilden, Sarah K Tasian, Cheryl L Willman, ..., Nature
Mutation-Specific Signaling Profiles and Kinase Inhibitor Sensitivities of Juvenile Myelomonocytic Leukemia Revealed by Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells
Stella T Chou, Jessica A Casas, Mignon L Loh, Sarah K Tasian, Nature

Abstracts/Posters

DYRK1A Is Regulated By Oncogenic KMT2A and Required for Survival of KMT2A-Rearranged Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia
Sarah K. Tasian, 61st Annual American Society of Hematology Meeting, Orlando, FL, 12/8/2019
Glucocorticoids Regulate the Splicing Factor MBNL1, a Potential Control Point for B-Cell Specification
Sarah K. Tasian, 61st Annual American Society of Hematology Meeting, Orlando, FL, 12/8/2019
Immune Landscapes Predict Chemotherapy Resistance and Anti-Leukemic Activity of Flotetuzumab, an Investigational CD123_CD3 Bispecific Dart¬ Molecule, in Patients with ...
Sarah K. Tasian, 61st Annual American Society of Hematology Meeting, Orlando, FL, 12/8/2019

Lectures

Expanding Horizons for Immunotherapy in Pediatric Leukemia
61st Annual American Society of Hematology Meeting - Orlando, FL - 12/7/2019
Career-Development Lunch Sessions: Pediatric Clinical Malignant Hematology/BMT
60th American Society of Hematology Annual Meeting - 12/1/2018
Matched Targeted Therapy for Pediatric Patients with Relapsed, Refractory or High-Risk Leukemias: A Report from the LEAP ConsortiumClinically Relevant Abstract
2018 ASH Annual Meeting - San Diego, CA - 12/1/2018

Exploring JAK/STAT Inhibition in the Prevention and Treatment of B-ALLOctober 7th, 2022
Emily Whitehead, First Pediatric Patient to Receive CAR T-cell Therapy, Celebrates Cure 10 Years LaterMay 11th, 2022
Aberrant Splicing of CD22 in Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia Underlies Resistance to ImmunotherapyJanuary 4th, 2022

Identifying Relapse Predictors and Therapeutic Vulnerabilities in Ph+ and Ph-like Acute Lymphoblastic LeukemiaSEATTLE CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL2025–2029
Towards rational design of combination therapeutic targetsCHILDREN'S HOSP OF PHILADELPHIA2020–2025
Towards Rational Design of Combination Therapeutic TargetsNational Cancer Institute2020–2025
Combinatorial Precision Medicine Approaches to Overcome Immunotherapeutic Resistance in High-Risk Childhood LeukemiasLisa Dean Moseley Foundation2021–2024
Children’s Oncology Group Pediatric Early Phase Clinical Trial NetworkNational Cancer Institute2018–2023

CHOP profilehttp://www.chop.edu/doctors/tasian-sarah-k#.VbBGsrrs594
Penn faculty profilehttps://www.med.upenn.edu/apps/faculty/index.php/g275/p8505580