Daniel Bastardo Blanco, Manager, Together by St. Jude online resource at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, shared a post on LinkedIn:
“This past week, I had the opportunity to join colleagues from around the world at SIOP Asia 2026 in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia – a gathering of over 300 participants from 55 countries across one of the most diverse regions globally!
One of the themes that stayed with me throughout the meeting was the balance between science and compassion. As Alejandra Mendez shared in her powerful session on the role of civil society in closing the care access gap in childhood cancer: “Medical breakthroughs alone are not enough to save lives.”
At St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, our team contributed to several conversations across this spectrum. Randa Toutio and I had the privilege of co-leading a workshop titled: ‘Advancing Health Literacy in Pediatric Oncology: Practical Tools, Teach-Back, and Global Resources.’
In our session, we focused on a simple but critical idea: Understanding is not guaranteed – even when information is available.
Together, we explored how communication gaps impact patient outcomes, practiced the teach-back method, and discussed how tools like the Together by St. Jude online resource can help make complex information more accessible and actionable for families.
Throughout the conference, I was inspired by the breadth of work happening across the region:
- Efforts such as the Global Platform for Access to Childhood Cancer Medicines, aiming to reach 50 countries and support treatment for up to 120,000 children
- The role of patient organizations and people with lived experience (PWLE) in shaping care and improving outcomes
- Innovations in AI-driven oncology and research collaboration, pushing the boundaries of what’s possible
- And the reality that challenges like late diagnosis, treatment abandonment, and limited access to care still impact far too many children globally
Thank you to Tsetsegsaikhan Batmunkh, the entire organizing committee, and the volunteers for an outstanding meeting. I return home in awe of Mongolia – and with a strong desire to come back and explore more of its countryside.
I’m grateful to be part of a global community working to improve how we care for children with cancer and how we communicate with the families who support them every step of the way.”
