The Hematology/Oncology Program at Boston Children's Hospital was formed in 1946 and is among the oldest in the country. It was founded by Dr. Louis K. Diamond, who is often said to have been the father of Pediatric Hematology, and by Dr. Sidney Farber, who originated cancer chemotherapy. The modern program dates from 1967 when Dr. David G. Nathan replaced Dr. Diamond as Division Chief. Under his direction the program expanded from a faculty of 3 and 1,200 net square feet (nsf) of research space to a faculty of 21 and 12,000 nsf. During that time, the division also greatly expanded its clinical activities. Following the death of Dr. Farber in 1974, Dr. Nathan assumed responsibility for all Pediatric Oncology at Boston Children’s Hospital and Dana-Farber Cancer Institute (DFCI). Soon thereafter, a bone marrow transplant (BMT) program was begun. In 1985, Dr. Nathan assumed the role of Chairman of the Department of Pediatrics and Drs. Samuel E. Lux and Steven J. Burakoff were appointed to direct the combined program. Dr. Burakoff moved to New York University in 2000 and was replaced by Dr. Stuart H. Orkin. Dr. David A. Williams, formerly the Chief of the Division of Experimental Hematology at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital and a trainee of this program, was recruited in 2007 as Division Chief at Boston Children's Hospital to replace Dr. Lux, who retired from his position after 23 years of service.

Since 1974 the clinical program in pediatric Hematology/Oncology has been a joint activity of Dana-Farber Cancer Institute (DFCI) and Boston Children's Hospital (BCH). All outpatient clinical activities for pediatric oncology and Bone Marrow Transplant are housed in the Jimmy Fund Clinic in DFCI. All inpatient clinical activities take place at BCH. All clinical hematology takes place at BCH. A selection committee comprised of faculty from both DFCI and BCH selects fellows from the annual candidate pool. Dr. Williams, as the Division Chief at BCH and Fellowship Program Director, is the Chair of the selection committee.

The program has continued to grow under Drs. Lux’, Williams’ and Orkin’s leadership. In particular, research space expanded following the addition of a new wing of the Enders research building in 1990 and the move to new space in the DFCI in both 1993 and 1998. A new research building (Karp Building) at BCH that opened in November 2003 allowed the program to expand to approximately 44,000 nsf. Most recently, with Dr. Williams’ recruitment, an additional 3400 nsf of space was added to the Division in the 4th floor of the Life Sciences Building Boston (LSBB) immediately adjacent to and connected with the Karp Building, giving the division >47,000 nsf of research space. This represents >320 laboratory benches. The research space is connected to the Stem Cell Program at BCH (Dr. Len Zon, Director) and to the Immune Disease Institute (Dr. Fred Alt, Director). These programs are integral parts of this training. An additional 5,000 nsf of research space is included in Dr. Williams’ recruitment package for future expansion which has not yet come on line. Dr. Williams brings new expertise in translational research, particularly focused on stem cell biology and genetic therapies.

Source: Dana-Farber, Boston Children’s Hospital Cancer and Blood Disorders Center. “History.” Web. Accessed 10 September 2015.http://www.danafarberbostonchildrens.org/for-physicians/fellowship-overview/history.aspx