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. 2025 Oct 23;7(1):vdaf229.
doi: 10.1093/noajnl/vdaf229. eCollection 2025 Jan-Dec.

An innovative virtual fellowship leveraging global and regional mentorship to foster pediatric neuro-oncologists in low/middle-income countries

Zeena Salman  1 , Daniel C Moreira  1   2 , Rahat Ul Ain  3 , Julieta Hoveyan  4   5 , Alma Edith Benito Resendiz  6 , Ludi Dhyani Rahmartani  7 , Anan Zhang  8 , Nisreen Amayiri  9 , Simon Bailey  10   11 , Eric Bouffet  12 , Godfrey Chi-Fung Chan  13 , Anthony Pak-Yin Liu  12 , Andres Morales La Madrid  14 , Naureen Mushtaq  15 , Karen Tsui  16 , Thandeka Vuyiswa Zamansundu Ngcana  17 , Mauricio Sanchez Salazar  18 , Vasudeva Bhat K  19 , Ramona Cirt  20 , Mahendra Somathilaka  21 , Peiyi Yang  22 , Girish Chinnaswamy  23 , Girish Dhall  24 , Tejpal Gupta  25 , Rakesh Jalali  26 , Alvaro Lassaletta  27 , Diana S Osorio  28 , Margaret Shatara  29 , Santhosh A Upadhyaya  30 , Ramya Uppuluri  31 , Stefan Pfister  32 , Susan Ybarra  1 , Elizabeth DiNovis  1 , Carlos Rodriguez-Galindo  1   2 , Ibrahim Qaddoumi  1   2
Affiliations

An innovative virtual fellowship leveraging global and regional mentorship to foster pediatric neuro-oncologists in low/middle-income countries

Zeena Salman et al. Neurooncol Adv. .

Abstract

Abstract: BackgroundMost children with central nervous system (CNS) tumors reside in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), with limited availability of trained pediatric neuro-oncologists.

Methods: Using a series of structured interviews of physicians who had served as global mentors or mentees in pediatric oncology, we identified mentorship, leadership, and clinical training as key components necessary to virtually train pediatric oncologists in LMICs to become leading pediatric neuro-oncologists while they remain in their home countries. Thus, the St Jude Global Virtual Pediatric Neuro-oncology Fellowship (VPNOF) was designed to incorporate mentorship with global and loco-regional mentors to aid in each fellow's career and institutional goal setting and clinical training involving virtual tumor boards and didactics and ad-hoc case discussions, enabling fellows to manage patients at their home institution. Fellows traveled to their mentors' institutions twice for four-week clinical rotations.

Results: In 2022 and 2023, eleven fellows were selected, representing 10 LMICs. The 2-year fellowship led to the establishment of multi-disciplinary approaches, increased patient volume, increased use of evidence-based practices, 33 abstract presentations, and publication of four journal articles.

Conclusions: The VPNOF is an innovative approach leveraging global mentorship to train pediatric oncologists in resource-limited settings to become pediatric neuro-oncologists, which has led to the successful implementation of new practice paradigms to improve the quality of care for children with CNS tumors in LMICs.

Keywords: CNS tumors; capacity building; low- and middle-income countries; neuro-oncology; pediatric; virtual fellowship.

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Conflict of interest statement

None declared.

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
VPNOF program figure.
Figure 2.
Figure 2.
Fellows-Mentors world map.
Figure 3.
Figure 3.
Bar graphs 2022 2023.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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