Marta Salek

Marta Salek

Pediatric Hematologist, Pediatric Oncologist

Supportive Care

St. Jude Children's Research Hospital

Location USA, Memphis

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Dr. Marta Salek is a pediatric hematologist-oncologist and palliative care specialist at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee, where she serves as Assistant Member in the Department of Global Pediatric Medicine. Her research bridges pediatric oncology, palliative care, and global health, with a focus on early integration of palliative care, treatment decision-making for children with advanced cancer in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), and optimizing quality of life for children with cancer worldwide. Dr. Salek has been an active leader in humanitarian pediatric oncology, co-founding the SAFER Ukraine Collaborative — a centralized triage system for evacuating children with cancer from Ukraine during the ongoing armed conflict. She is a recipient of the ASCO Conquer Cancer Foundation Global Oncology Young Investigator Award and the OncoDaily Yvonne Award (2025) for exceptional achievements in oncology.

Current Positions

  • Assistant Member, Department of Global Pediatric Medicine, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, Memphis, TN
  • Affiliate, Comprehensive Cancer Center, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital
  • Affiliate, Cancer Control and Survivorship Program, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital
  • Affiliate, Department of Oncology, Leukemia/Lymphoma Division, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital

Education

  • BS, The University of Western Ontario (UWO), London, Ontario, Canada
  • MD, Jagiellonian University Medical College (JUMC), Kraków, Poland
  • Residency, Pediatrics, University of Massachusetts / Baystate Children’s Hospital, Springfield, MA
  • Fellowship, Palliative and Hospice Medicine, University of Washington / Seattle Children’s Hospital, Seattle, WA
  • Fellowship, Pediatric Hematology/Oncology, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, Memphis, TN
  • MPH, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD

Research Activity

  • Early integration of palliative care in pediatric oncology: Research on multidisciplinary models of embedded palliative care for children with cancer, including clinician perspectives on palliative care integration; contributor to landmark Lancet Oncology methodological work on qualitative research in cancer
  • Treatment decision-making in advanced pediatric cancer in LMICs: Leads the CATALYST Advisory Group research program examining how oncologists and families make treatment decisions at the time of diagnosis for children with advanced cancer in LMICs; published in JCO Global Oncology and Supportive Care in Cancer; co-authored a scoping review of factors influencing treatment decision-making in LMICs (Cancer Medicine, 2023)
  • Humanitarian pediatric oncology: Co-founder of the SAFER Ukraine Collaborative; developed a centralized triage center in Poland to coordinate evacuation and medical care for Ukrainian children with cancer and blood disorders during the war; published in The Lancet Oncology (2023) and Lancet Haematology (2022); co-author on retrospective comparative analysis of two medical evacuation systems (European Journal of Cancer, 2024)
  • Pediatric acute leukemia and rare malignancies: Clinical and translational research in pediatric AML and ALL, including secondary myeloid malignancies, CPX-351, and concurrent rare presentations; contributed to studies of treatment modifications in ALL in LMICs
  • Palliative care in Asia Pacific: Lead investigator of the ADAPT-AP Study Group, examining barriers to palliative care integration for children with cancer across the Asia Pacific region; published in JCO Global Oncology (2026)
  • End-of-life care and adolescent preparedness: Contributed to work on preparing adolescents and equipping parents for end-of-life care (Journal of Bioethics Inquiry, 2025)

Honors and Awards

  • OncoDaily Yvonne Award for Exceptional Achievements in Oncology, 2025
  • Global Oncology Young Investigator Award, ASCO Conquer Cancer Foundation
  • Merit Award, ASCO Quality Care Symposium

Memberships / Affiliations

  • CATALYST Advisory Group — co-investigator and founding member
  • SAFER Ukraine Collaborative — co-founder and lead investigator
  • ADAPT-AP Study Group — principal investigator
  • Applied Qualitative Research Working Group (Lancet Oncology), contributing member
  • St. Jude Comprehensive Cancer Center
  • St. Jude Cancer Control and Survivorship Program

Areas of Specialization

  • Pediatric hematology and oncology
  • Palliative and hospice medicine in pediatric oncology
  • Early integration of palliative care for children with cancer
  • Treatment decision-making in advanced pediatric cancer
  • Global pediatric oncology and cancer care in LMICs
  • Humanitarian pediatric oncology and care during armed conflict
  • Qualitative research methods in oncology
  • Pediatric acute leukemia and rare hematologic malignancies
  • Quality of life and patient-centered outcomes in children with cancer

Publications

Dr. Salek has authored and co-authored publications in The Lancet Oncology, Lancet Haematology, Journal of Clinical Oncology Global Oncology, Blood Advances, Cancer Medicine, Supportive Care in Cancer, European Journal of Cancer, Journal of Pain and Symptom Management, and Pediatric Blood & Cancer.

Select Recent Publications:

Cuviello A, Salek M, Handayani SA, Blair S, Lam CG, ADAPT-AP Study Group, et al. “Barriers to palliative care integration for children with cancer across Asia Pacific.” JCO Global Oncology 12(4):e2500512, April 2026. PMID: 41985116.

Salek M, Caceres-Serrano A, Canedo J, Fuentes L, Mehler S, Rule A, Zeal J, Rodriguez-Galindo C, Graetz D, Bhakta N, Kaye EC, CATALYST Advisory Group. “Treatment decision making at diagnosis for children presenting with advanced cancer in low- and middle-income countries.” JCO Global Oncology 12(3):e2500320, March 2026. PMID: 41855442.

Graetz DE, Sisk BA, Salek M, Blazin LJ, Kaye EC, Applied Qualitative Research Working Group 1, et al. “The power of words: Evaluating the role of qualitative methods in cancer research.” The Lancet Oncology 27(2):e73–e83, February 2026. PMID: 41643711.

Weaver MS, Kaye E, Johnson LM, Salek M, Wiener L. “Preparing adolescents and equipping parents for end-of-life care preventing and mitigating moral dilemmas.” Journal of Bioethics Inquiry 22(4):1005–1007, December 2025. PMID: 41212377.

Duffy C, Allen S, Alexander TB, Bhakta M, Salek M, McNeil MJ, Bhakta N, et al. “Pediatric ALL treatment modifications in low- and middle-income countries: A systematic review.” JCO Global Oncology 11:e2500286, December 2025. PMID: 41397197.

Cuviello A, Salek M, Handayani SA, Blair S, Lam CG, ADAPT-AP Study Group. “Survey adaptation and distribution for physicians caring for children diagnosed with cancer in Asia Pacific: Unique study challenges and lessons learned.” JCO Global Oncology 11:e2500057, March 2025. PMID: 40153692.

Oszer A, Kliuchkivska K, Kołodrubiec J, Sopilnyak A, Salek M, Mlynarski W, Agulnik A, Polish Society of Pediatric Oncology and Hematology and the SAFER Ukraine Collaborative, et al. “Evacuating patients with pediatric cancer from Ukraine: Impact on medical care capacity in Poland.” JCO Global Oncology 11:e2400046, February 2025. PMID: 39946670.

Salek M, Porter AS, Maradiege E, Dolendo MCJ, Rodriguez-Galindo C, Graetz D, Bhakta N, Kaye EC, CATALYST Advisory Group, et al. “Exploring treatment decision-making at diagnosis for children with advanced cancer in low- and middle-income countries.” Supportive Care in Cancer 32(11):753, October 2024. PMID: 39472335.

Mueller A, Salek M, Oszer A, Evseev D, Yakimkova T, Rodriguez-Galindo C, Wise PH, Agulnik A, Mlynarski W, et al. “Retrospective comparative analysis of two medical evacuation systems for Ukrainian patients affected by war.” European Journal of Cancer 210:114271, October 2024. PMID: 39232428.

Force LM, Hlatywayo L, Salek M, Bhakta M, Bhakta N, Chitsike I, et al. “Understanding treatment recommendations at diagnosis of advanced cancer in pediatric oncology: The need to explore decision-making challenges globally.” Pediatric Blood & Cancer 71(4):e30854, April 2024. PMID: 38233986.

Salek M, Mueller A, Alanbousi I, Rodriguez-Galindo C, Wise PH, Mlynarski W, Agulnik A, SAFER Ukraine Collaborative, et al. “Development of a centralised triage centre for children with cancer and blood disorders in response to the humanitarian crisis in Ukraine.” The Lancet Oncology 24(12):1315–1318, December 2023. PMID: 38039989.

Salek M, Silverstein A, Tilly A, Gassant PY, Bhakta N, Rodin D, Kaye EC, et al. “Factors influencing treatment decision-making for cancer patients in low- and middle-income countries: A scoping review.” Cancer Medicine 12(17):18133–18152, September 2023. PMID: 37526041.

Salek M, Woods C, Gattas M, Gattuso JS, Mandrell B, Baker JN, Kaye EC. “Multidisciplinary clinician perspectives on embedded palliative care models in pediatric cancer.” Journal of Pain and Symptom Management 64(3):222–233, September 2022. PMID: 35649459.

Agulnik A, Kizyma R, Salek M, Wlodarski MW, Mlynarski W, SAFER Ukraine Collaborative, et al. “Global effort to evacuate Ukrainian children with cancer and blood disorders who have been affected by war.” Lancet Haematology 9(9):e645–e647, September 2022. PMID: 36055331.

Salek M, Oak N, Hines M, Maciaszek JL, Tatevossian R, Sharma A, Nichols KE, Campbell P. “Development of BRAFV600E-positive acute myeloid leukemia in a patient on long-term dabrafenib for multisystem LCH.” Blood Advances 6(8):2681–2684, April 2022. PMID: 34996063.

All information is sourced from publicly available materials.