Childhood, Adolescent and Young Adult Survivorship Program Staff

Saro Armenian, D.O., M.P.H., is the Barron Hilton Chair in Pediatrics, and director of the Childhood, Adolescent and Young Adult Survivorship Program at City of Hope. In this capacity, he oversees the active follow-up of one of the largest groups of survivors of pediatric and young adult cancers in the United States. Dr. Armenian is deeply committed to improving the lives of cancer survivors through innovative state-of-the-art research, excellence in clinical care, and personalized patient and family education. He has championed the importance of integrated multidisciplinary care that is at the heart of the care provided in the survivorship clinic. Dr. Armenian and his team look forward to welcoming you to this one-of-a-kind program.

Rusha Bhandari, M.D., M.S., is a pediatric hematologist/oncologist with a special interest in pediatric leukemia. In addition to providing clinical care within the survivorship program, much of her work focuses on nutrition and metabolic disorders in childhood cancer survivors.

Karla Wilson, R.N., M.S.N., FNP-C , is a nurse practitioner who has over 45 years of experience in pediatric oncology and has a special interest in children with brain and spinal tumors. She has specialized in the area of childhood, adolescent and young adult cancer survivorship since 2006 and provides clinical care for patients in City of Hope's survivorship program.

Jeanelle Folbrecht, Ph.D., is a clinical psychologist and neuropsychologist with 15 years of experience working with pediatric oncology patients and survivors. She is currently working to identify and address the particular needs of adolescent and young adult patients and survivors.

Natalie Kelly, Ph.D., is a clinical neuropsychologist with expertise in pediatric populations. She is assistant clinical professor in the Department of Supportive Care Medicine and director of the Neuropsychology Clerkship. Dr. Kelly conducts comprehensive neuropsychological assessments for patients in the survivorship clinic. In this role, she helps patients understand their cognitive concerns and provides support through tailored recommendations.

Elaine Dawson, Psy.D., is a clinical health psychologist and assistant clinical professor within the Department of Supportive Care Medicine. She enjoys working with patients and survivors of all ages. She also collaborates with a multidisciplinary team (including Dr. Folbrecht) to better meet the support needs of adolescent and young adult patients and survivors at City of Hope.

Dhvanti Bhatt, M.S., R.D., CSO, CDE, is a clinical dietitian with 27 years of experience at City of Hope. She has worked in the pediatric, pediatric hematopoietic stem cell transplantation, diabetes, medical oncology and survivorship programs.

Claudia Herrera is a clinical research assistant with more than 25 years of experience with the Pediatric Cancer Program at City of Hope. She worked in the pediatric clinic prior to joining the Childhood Cancer Survivorship Program in 2007. She is instrumental in the coordination of patient scheduling and maintaining patient contact.