William S. Ferguson, M.D.

Director, Division of Pediatric Hematology and Oncology; Bob Costas Professor of Pediatrics
Department of Pediatrics

Education

Fellowships
Research, Center for Cancer Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Pediatric Hematology-Oncology, Massachusetts General Hospital

Residency
Pediatrics, Massachusetts General Hospital

Medical School
New York University School of Medicine

Bachelor of Arts
Harvard College

Practice Areas

Director of Pediatric Hematology-Oncology, SSM Health Cardinal Glennon Children's Hospital
Interim director, Saint Louis University Cancer Center
Administrative chair, Saint Louis University Institutional Review Board

Research Interests

Treatment of bone and soft tissue sarcomas
Bone marrow transplant and cellular therapy
New therapeutic approaches for neuroblastoma
Clinical trials

Publications and Media Placements

Lewis EC, Kraveka JM, Ferguson W, Eslin D, Brown VI, Bergendahl G, Roberts W, Wada RK, Oesterheld J, Mitchell D, Foley J, Zage P, Rawwas J, Rich M, Lorenzi E, Broglio K, Berry D, Saulnier Sholler GL. A Subset Analysis of a Phase II Trial Evaluating the Use of DFMO as Maintenance Therapy for High-Risk Neuroblastoma. Int J Cancer 2020; 147(11):3152-3159.

Babic A, Buchanan P, Gill A, Bloomquist J, Regan D, Bhatla D, Ferguson W. Analysis of Outcomes of Single-Unit Cord Blood Transplantation with Umbilical Cord Blood Units Processed with Two Different Red Blood Cell Sedimentation Reagents. Transfusion 2021; 61(6):1856-1866.

Byron SA, Hendricks WPD, Nagulapally AB, Kraveka JM, Ferguson WS, Brown VI, Eslin DE, Mitchell D, Cornelius A, Roberts W, Isakoff MS, Oesterheld JE, Wada RK, Rawwas J, Neville K, Zage PE, Harrod VL, Bergendahl G, VanSickle E, Dykema K, Bond J, Chou HC, Wei JS, Wen X, Reardon HV, Roos A, Nasser S, Izatt T, Enriquez D, Hegde AM, Cisneros F, Christofferson A, Turner B, Szelinger S, Keats JJ, Halperin RF, Khan J, Saulnier Sholler GL, Trent JM. Genomic and Transcriptomic Analysis of Relapsed and Refractory Childhood Solid Tumors Reveals a Diverse Molecular Landscape and Mechanisms of Immune Evasion. Cancer Res. 2021 Dec 1;81(23):5818-5832.

Kraveka JM, Lewis EC, Bergendahl G, Ferguson W, Oesterheld J, Kim E, Nagulapally AB, Dykema KJ, Brown VI, Roberts WD, Mitchell D, Eslin D, Hanson D, Isakoff MS, Wada RK, Harrod VL, Rawwas J, Hanna G, Hendricks WPD, Byron SA, Snuderl M, Serrano J, Trent JM, Saulnier Sholler GL. A pilot study of genomic-guided induction therapy followed by immunotherapy with difluoromethylornithine maintenance for high-risk neuroblastoma. Cancer Rep (Hoboken). 2022 Nov;5(11):e1616. doi: 10.1002/cnr2.1616. Epub 2022 Mar 31. PMID: 35355452; PMCID: PMC9675391.

Saulnier-Sholler G, Duda DG, Bergendahl G, Ebb D, Snuderl M, Laetsch TW, Michlitsch J, Hanson D, Isakoff MS, Bielamowicz K, Kraveka JM, Ferguson W, Carmeliet P, De Deene A, Gijsen L, Jain RK. A Phase I Trial of TB-403 in Relapsed Medulloblastoma, Neuroblastoma, Ewing Sarcoma, and Alveolar Rhabdomyosarcoma. Clin Cancer Res. 2022 Sep 15;28(18):3950-3957. doi: 10.1158/1078-0432.CCR-22-1169. PMID: 35833850; PMCID: PMC9481695.

Eslin D, Zage PE, Bergendahl G, Lewis E, Roberts W, Kraveka J, Mitchell D, Isakoff MS, Rawwas J, Wada RK, Fluchel M, Brown VI, Ginn K, Higgins T, Beeravally Nagulapally A, Dykema K, Hanna G, Ferguson W, Saulnier Sholler GL. A phase II trial of nifurtimox combined with topotecan and cyclophosphamide for refractory or relapsed neuroblastoma and medulloblastoma. Int J Cancer. 2023 Sep 1;153(5):1026-1034. doi: 10.1002/ijc.34569. Epub 2023 May 29. PMID: 37246577.

Oesterheld J, Ferguson W, Kraveka JM, Bergendahl G, Clinch T, Lorenzi E, Berry D, Wada RK, Isakoff MS, Eslin DE, Brown VI, Roberts W, Zage P, Harrod VL, Mitchell DS, Hanson D, Saulnier Sholler GL. Eflornithine as Postimmunotherapy Maintenance in High-Risk Neuroblastoma: Externally Controlled, Propensity Score-Matched Survival Outcome Comparisons. J Clin Oncol. 2024 Jan 1;42(1):90-102. doi: 10.1200/JCO.22.02875. Epub 2023 Oct 26. PMID: 37883734; PMCID: PMC10730038.

Saulnier Sholler GL, Bergendahl C, Lewis EC, Kraveka J, Ferguson W, Nagulapally AB, Dykema K, Brown VI, Isakoff MS, Junewick J, Mitchell D, RawwasJ, Roberts W, Eslin D, Oesterheld J, Wada RK. Pastakia D, Harrod V, Ginn K, Saab R, Bielamowicz K, Glover J, Chang E, Hanna GK, Enriquez D, Izatt T, Halperin RF, Moore A, Byron SA, Hendricks WPD, Trent JM. Molecular-Guided Therapy for the Treatment of Patients with Relapsed and Refractory Childhood Cancers: A Beat Childhood Cancer Research Consortium trial. Genome Med. 2024 Feb 12;16(1):28. doi: 10.1186/s13073-024-01297-5. PMID: 38347552; PMCID: PMC10860258

Ferguson, WS. The fault…is not in our stars, but in ourselves. J Pediatr 2020 Jan; 216:1.

Ferguson, WS. A better way to detect iron deficiency? J Pediatr 2021 Dec; 239:2.

Ferguson, WS. Neurodevelopmental Consequences of Neonatal Thrombocytopenia. J Pediatr 2023; 258:113555.

Ferguson, WS. Preventing Thrombosis in Children with MIS-C. J Pediatr 2023 262:113766.

Professional Organizations and Associations

Institutional principal investigator, Children's Oncology Group
Institutional PI, executive and scientific boards; Beat Childhood Cancer Consortium
Instutional PI, Pediatric Transplantation and Cellular Therapy Consortium
American Society of Pediatric Hematology-Oncology
American Society of Clinical Oncology

Community Work and Service

Editorial Board, Journal of Pediatrics
Medical Advisory Board, Bone Marrow Foundation