Kim Nichols Email Address

Full Member, Department of Oncology; Director, Division of Cancer Predisposition

St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital is leading the way the world understands, treats and defeats childhood cancer and other life-threatening diseases. St. Jude was established in 1962 and has helped to increase the childhood cancer survival rate from 20% to more than 80% since it first opened its doors. The institution is powered by the great generosity of its donors, which helps ensure that families never receive a bill from St. Jude for treatment, travel, housing or food--so they can focus on helping their child live.

I am a pediatric oncologist with research interests in the molecular mechanisms that provide protection against viral infections and cancer. My overarching goals are to understand how defects in these mechanisms contribute to disease and use this information to develop more effective treatments for children with increased genetic risk for infection and/or malignancy. Towards this end, my research focuses on: - Identifying novel genetic causes of childhood cancer - Optimizing methods of tumor surveillance for children with increased cancer risk - Evaluating the factors that influence parent and adolescent decision making and communication around genetic testing for heritable cancer risk - Understanding the behavioral and psychological impacts of cancer genetic testing on children and their families - Increasing understanding and developing new therapies for malignant and non-malignant hematologic disorders, including B-cell leukemias and lymphomas, hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis and Epstein-Barr virus-associated lymphoproliferations