Dr. Widemann is a senior investigator and head of the Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics Section (PETS). After obtaining her M.D., from the University of Cologne (Cologne, Germany) in 1986, Dr. Widemann received board certification in pediatrics in 1992 and was a hematology/oncology fellow at NCI Pediatric Oncology Branch from 1992 to 1995. She subsequently joined the PET Section and received tenure at NCI in 2009. Her primary research interests are in the development of early clinical trials for children and young adults with refractory cancers and genetic tumor predisposition syndromes such as neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1), and multiple endocrine neoplasia types 2A (MEN2A) and 2B (MEN2B). Dr. Widemann and her colleagues have developed novel imaging methods for NF1-related plexiform neurofibromas and pioneered the development of early phase drug treatments for this patient population. Dr. Widemann leads multiple clinical trials of new investigational agents in pediatric refractory cancers and NF1. She also serves as the NCI Pediatric Oncology Branch principal investigator of the Children’s Oncology Group Phase I Consortium and of the Department of Defense-sponsored Neurofibromatosis Consortium. 

Clinical Research, Genetics and Genomics