Megan Webber, Co-Founder of KnowTheGlow, and Helene Dameris, Director of Global Outreach, recently had a conversation they will not soon forget. Introduced by Dr. Guillermo Chantada, the current President of the International Society of Paediatric Oncology (SIOP), they met with Dr. Nita Radhakrishnan, a leader in pediatric cancer care whose energy, insight, and compassion made an immediate impression.
Dr. Radhakrishnan serves as the Head of the Department of Pediatric Hematology-Oncology at the Post-Graduate Institute of Child Health in Noida, India, and chairs the International Pediatric Association’s Program Area Working Group on Childhood Cancer. In more than two decades of work across India, she has cared for countless children while also building programs that bring pediatric cancer awareness to a global stage.
From the start of their conversation, Dr. Radhakrishnan understood the mission of KnowTheGlow and saw clear opportunities to join forces. She spoke about the International Pediatric Association’s reach, connecting pediatricians in 150 countries, and how important it is for primary care doctors, who often see a child as early as six weeks, to be aware of retinoblastoma and The Glow. She believes this awareness could change the course of countless lives through earlier detection.
She also shared her vision for making that happen. In India, the national Rashtriya Bal Swasthya Karyakram (RBSK) program screens young children for six conditions, including pediatric cataracts, but not yet for cancer. Dr. Radhakrishnan sees the potential to expand it, training community-based ASHA workers, who are already trusted in their villages, to recognize signs of The Glow. With the right pilot study, she believes it would be possible to present the results to the government and bring attention to retinoblastoma in a nationwide program.
Her ideas extended well beyond India’s borders. She spoke of adapting KTG’s materials for the International Pediatric Association (IPA) platform so they could be shared with pediatricians worldwide, creating practical diagnostic resources for any condition that could present with the glow. She also suggested weaving KTG’s content into maternal health and breastfeeding initiatives, expanding the reach of awareness even further.
Dr. Radhakrishnan expressed interest in seeing KTG represented at London Global Cancer Week and in exploring ways to engage with continuing education for pediatricians through the IPA. She shared that both platforms could help bring KTG’s message to a global audience and connect with pediatricians in every corner of the world.
Her passion for pediatrics comes from a deep belief in the progress made over the past twenty years and the privilege of seeing children cured and thriving. Though she comes from a family of doctors, she is the only one among her siblings to choose medicine, and she has devoted her career to ensuring that no child’s life is cut short for lack of awareness or access to care.
For Megan and Helene, the conversation felt less like an introduction and more like the beginning of a partnership filled with purpose and possibility.
