New ASPHO President Hopes to Increase Awareness Around Pediatric Oncology

Maria C. Velez, MD, the 2025-2026 president of the American Society of Pediatric Hematology/Oncology (ASPHO), has big plans on how to advance the society and bring more attention to a much-needed specialty.

While her term is only 1 year, she is very excited to launch the reassessment of the society’s strategic plan, set to be executed over the next 3 to 5 years. She will work with the board members, the leadership team, and other ASPHO members to make sure it is implemented, to shine a necessary light on the society.

Additionally, she spoke with CancerNetwork® about how ASPHO's focus has been, among other things, on advocacy and being a reputable resource to various outlets. Its collaboration with various oncology groups has added another layer of advocacy and support for the members to benefit the patients and colleagues in the subspecialty.

Velez is a distinguished professor in the Department of Pediatrics, Division of Hematology/Oncology, and former director of the Pediatric Hematology/Oncology Fellowship at Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center School of Medicine, New Orleans. Velez also has several leadership roles at Manning Family Children’s New Orleans.

Transcript:

I’m very excited to launch a reassessment of the society through a strategic plan during my term. My term is a year, and it started in May [2025] and will go through May of 2026. Through this reassessment, we want to learn what issues are of most concern to our members and [community], and how we can dynamically address them. We’ll do this through educational programming, advocacy, and support of the field. The strategic plan combines a 3- to 5-year holistic vision for this specialty with a focus on actionable steps that, together, then help us achieve the shared goals. It’s an ambitious plan, but it’s also critically needed in this environment.

Raising awareness of the needs of the pediatric hematology-oncology community is a key priority for ASPHO, so much so that the 2022-2025 strategic plan includes a dedicated goal with specific action steps to address it. Over the past several years, our efforts have expanded to include advocacy initiatives; serving as a trusted resource to the media, policy makers, and health care providers, which includes not only our pediatric hematology oncologists but also other support team colleagues like APPs; building strategic partnerships and coalitions with the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO), American Society of Hematology (ASH), and other stakeholders to speak with a unified voice; and leveraging the expertise of our members to support both patient needs and the advancement of our subspecialty.