Pediatric bone marrow transplant patient

Bone Marrow Transplant

Thanks to advances in bone marrow transplants, children with life-threatening cancers and blood disorders are being cured at a higher rate than ever before.

Expert Collaboration for Children

The Blood and Marrow Transplantation Center at Wolfson Children’s Hospital, a collaboration with Nemours Children’s Health, Jacksonville, and the world-renowned Mayo Clinic, brings children from all over the world to receive our life-saving care.

Blood and Marrow Transplantation Center


Wolfson Children's Hospital
Nemour's Children's Hospital

Wolfson Children's Hospital provides bone marrow tranplant services in collaboration with Nemours Children's Health, Jacksonville.

Why Wolfson

Wolfson Children’s Hospital has been ranked by U.S. News & World Report as one of the 50 best children’s hospitals for cancer care. We are also an Accredited Pediatric Cancer Program by the American College of Surgeons (ACoS). Our patients benefit from the latest, evidence-based protocols, clinical research and the collective experience and expertise of an entire team.

Wolfson Children’s Hospital has a top-notch bone marrow transplant program in North Florida, meaning your child has access to the best treatment closer to home. In many cases, our expected survival rate for patients who have bone marrow transplants exceeds national averages.

Blood and Marrow Transplantation Center


Wolfson Children's Hospital
Nemour's Children's Hospital

Wolfson Children's Hospital provides bone marrow tranplant services in collaboration with Nemours Children's Health, Jacksonville.

Conditions We Treat

Cancers

  • Acute and chronic leukemia
  • Brain tumors
  • Ewing sarcoma (bone cancer)
  • Inherited diseases
  • Hodgkin and non-Hodgkin lymphoma
  • Neuroblastoma
  • Solid tumors

Blood disorders and immune deficiencies

  • Aplastic anemia
  • Bone marrow failure syndromes
  • Congenital neutropenia
  • Diamond-Blackfan anemia
  • Fanconi anemia
  • Immune deficiencies
  • Severe combined immunodeficiency disorder
  • Wiskott-Aldrich syndrome
  • Inherited diseases
  • Myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS)
  • Sickle cell anemia
  • Thalassemia
Dr. Joyce talking to a boy patient.

“A successful bone marrow transplant requires a team effort, which is what you get at Wolfson Children’s. We all work together to make sure each child gets the lifesaving care they need.”
Michael Joyce, MD, PhD,
Medical Director
FACT accreditation logo

Transplant Program

We offer two types of bone marrow transplants:

Autologous – Cells come from your child’s own blood or bone marrow. Some of the cells are removed and stored until transplant date.

Allogeneic – Cells come from another person: a close relative, volunteer donor or a baby’s umbilical cord (for stem cell cord blood transplant).

Accredited Program

The program maintains national accreditation by the Foundation for Accreditation of Cellular Therapy. It’s also recognized by the National Marrow Donor Program (NMDP) as an affiliated center for matched unrelated donor transplants.

  • Children deserve care from the most practiced specialists around, working as one team to deliver outstanding care. We bring together experts from oncology, hematology, transplant coordinators, specialized nurses, child life specialists, social workers and physical therapists to create a plan for initial treatment and ongoing after care to meet the specific needs of your child.

  • Most office visits are at Nemours Children's Health, while transplants and overnight stays are at Wolfson Children’s Hospital. Both are located on the south bank of the St. Johns River in Jacksonville, with the Ronald McDonald House within walking distance.

    Blood and Marrow Transplantation Program of Nemours Children’s Health, Jacksonville, Wolfson Children's Hospital and Mayo Clinic – NMDP Transplant Center #316.

Pediatric leukemia patient Claire drawing in chalk on the sidewalk

CLAIRE IS SUFFERING FROM A RARE FORM OF LEUKEMIA

Pediatric bone marrow transplant patient

Celebrating New Beginnings: A New Birthday

The day a child receives a bone marrow transplant can be a day of hope and new beginnings for the family. At Wolfson Children’s, we celebrate important milestones like this together with our patients. Our team plans a birthday party, complete with cake, party hats and singing. And, of course, the best birthday gift is a chance for a new start.

man signing checkered race flag

Celebrating New Beginnings: Reaching the Checkered Flag

After a child receives a bone marrow transplant, they will be in the hospital for a while. So, when the day comes to finally go home, it’s a day worth celebrating. At Wolfson Children’s, we celebrate important milestones like this together with our patients. A parade lap around the pediatric oncology floor that includes the patient’s favorite music culminates at a checkered flag that each transplant graduate signs and dates.

Patient Stories

  • Congenital Dyserythropoeitic Anemia (CDA), Type II patient Tyler Hangartner

    Boy’s Lifelong Battle With Rare Blood Disease Ends With Curative Bone Marrow Transplant

    Tyler is only one of a few hundred people in the world known to have congenital dyserythropoeitic anemia (CDA), type II.

    Read Tyler's Story