Email

dwparson@bcm.edu

Education

MD from Ohio State University College Of Medicine

01/2001 - Columbus, OH United States

PhD from Ohio State University College Of Medicine

01/1999 - Columbus, Ohio United States

Pathology

Residency at Johns Hopkins University School Of Medicine

01/2004 - Baltimore, Maryland United States

Pediatrics

Clinical Fellowship at National Cancer Institute

01/2007 - Bethesda, Maryland United States

Pediatric Hematology-Oncology

Clinical Fellowship at Johns Hopkins University

01/2008 - Baltimore, Maryland United States

Neuro-Oncology

Professional Interests

• Clinical application of genome sequencing in pediatric cancer care
• Molecular characterization of pediatric cancers

Professional Statement

Dr. Parsons is a board-certified pediatric hematologist-oncologist specializing in the care of children with high risk cancers, including brain and spinal cord tumors. His work has been instrumental in the characterization of the genetic landscapes of a variety of pediatric and adult cancers, with a particular focus on central nervous system (CNS) tumors, including the first identification of mutations in IDH1 and IDH2 in gliomas. His research program primarily focuses on the clinical application of genomic technologies in pediatric cancer care and the use of these methods to characterize the molecular basis of pediatric cancers. Dr. Parsons has partnered with Dr. Sharon Plon and multidisciplinary team members in seminal studies evaluating the use of clinical genomic testing for childhood cancer patients as part of the NHGRI Clinical Sequencing Evidence-Generating Research (CSER) program: the BASIC3 study (2011-2017) for newly diagnosed patients at Texas Children's Cancer and Hematology Center and the Texas KidsCanSeq study (2018-2021) for newly diagnosed and relapsed patients at multiple sites across Texas. He has a particular interest in the development and evaluation of novel cancer therapies and has a number of leadership roles in this area including serving as the Children's Oncology Group (COG) study chair for the ongoing NCI-COG Pediatric MATCH trial, the first nationwide precision oncology trial for children and young adults with treatment refractory cancers, and as a Steering Committee member and Genomics & Translational Biology lead for the NIH Pediatric Early Phase Clinical Trials Network. He has been a Member of the National Cancer Institute Board of Scientific Counselors since 2024.

Websites