New Jersey Brain and Spine has announced that Timothy Vogel, MD, PhD, Director of Pediatric Neurosurgery, has cofounded a new laboratory for pediatric neuro-oncology with Derek Hanson, MD, at the Center for Discovery and Innovation at Hackensack University Medical Center.
Timothy Vogel, MD, PhD
Derek Hanson, MD
Dr. Vogel also serves as Director of Pediatric Neurosurgery at the Joseph M. Sanzari Children’s Hospital at Hackensack University Medical Center, where Dr. Hanson, a pediatric hematologist-oncologist, is Program Head of Pediatric Neuro-Oncology. The laboratory was made possible through Tackle Kids Cancer, a philanthropic initiative of the Children’s Cancer Institute at Hackensack Meridian Children’s Health.
Connecting Research and Treatment
“To continue advancing our understanding of and ability to treat neuro-oncologic issues, we need to build a pipeline from research to clinical applications,” said Dr. Vogel. “Dr. Hanson and I plan to explore treatments for rare brain tumors, specifically embryonal tumors with multilayered rosettes. These exceptionally aggressive tumors usually affect children younger than 4 years of age, with an average survival rate of 6 months to 1 year following diagnosis. I see it as my responsibility to help advance our medical knowledge of these potentially devastating diseases as much as possible, and I feel privileged to touch the lives of every pediatric patient who requires care.”
A surgeon at New Jersey Brain and Spine for 5 years, Dr. Vogel has conducted research in laboratories at Princeton, Columbia, Harvard, and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. He has also led his own National Institutes of Health–funded lab, where he recently led a history-making surgery to save the life of a baby boy born with his brain outside his skull.
“We are extremely proud of Dr. Vogel’s new research venture,” said Jonathan Tamir, Chief Executive Officer of New Jersey Brain and Spine. “Our physician team was built with two core values in mind—world-class skill and judgment, and a deep level of compassion for patients. Dr. Vogel exemplifies both these values, and we look forward to seeing the ongoing results of his laboratory’s important work.”
