Craig Erker, MD, MSc

Education  

• Bachelor of Science, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, SK (2003-2007)
• Doctor of Medicine, Saba University School of Medicine, Saba, Netherlands Antilles (2007-2011)
• Master of Science in Hyperbaric Medicine, Saba University School of Medicine, Saba, Netherlands Antilles (2007-2009)
• Master of Science in Clinical and Translational Science, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, WI (2015-2017)
• Residency, Pediatrics, University of Florida, Jacksonville, FL, USA (2011-2014)
• Pediatric Hematology Oncology Bone Marrow Transplant Fellowship, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, WI, USA (2014-2017)
• Clinical Pediatric Neuro-Oncology Fellowship, Cincinnati Children's Hospital and Medical Center, Cincinnati, OH, USA (2017-2018)

Certifications

• General Pediatrics - Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada
• Pediatric Hematology/Oncology - Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada
  
• General Pediatrics - American Board of Pediatrics
• Pediatric Hematology/Oncology – American Board of Pediatrics
  

Clinical interests 

Part of my role is to treat children with cancers, but I like to think of the entire family as well. When a child presents with a new, progressive or relapsed cancer, I feel the family is entitled to the latest information and available clinical trials. I have completed 7 years of post-graduate training residency and have tailored my education and learning to treating children with cancer, specifically CNS cancers. Drive and educational fascination to improve outcomes for children with cancer, as well as personal experiences with cancer in my family have driven me toward this career path. I would describe myself a passionate and composed physician and clinician researcher who will dedicate my career to serving those who suffer from childhood cancer

Teaching interests

Through my interest in health-related quality of life for those suffering from pediatric cancer, I have helped develop a monthly multidisciplinary team meeting directed at patient’s with poor prognoses or who require significant symptom management. Through this initiative, we have instituted an educational initiatives for staff and learners to help engage team members and foster ongoing improvement in patient directed care.

Research interests

I have been fortunate to have led studies for patient outcome research and health-related quality of life in the setting of pediatric cancer. In addition, I am passionate about advancing care for patients with pediatric central nervous system (CNS) tumors. I have been involved with international collaborators to develop response criteria assessments for patients with specific types of CNS tumors through RAPNO. I also work with a large registry of patients with diffuse intrinsic pontine gliomas (DIPG), called the International DIPG Registry, to improve our understanding of this horrible and incurable childhood cancer. My career goal is to help improve overall outcomes and quality of life for those suffering from pediatric cancer.

Selected publications  

• A. Successful Treatment of Invasive Conidiobolus Infection During Therapy for Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia. C Erker, AR Huppler, TJ Walsh, ME McCormick, M Suchi, NS Bhatt, Journal of pediatric hematology/oncology.
• B. Usual and unusual manifestations of familial hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis and Langerhans cell histiocytosis. C Erker, P Harker-Murray, JA Talano. Pediatric Clinics 64 (1), 91-109.
• C. Impact of pediatric cancer on family relationships. C Erker, K Yan, L Zhang, K Bingen, KE Flynn, J Panepinto. Cancer medicine 7 (5), 1680-1688.