Margaret Suhail Shatara, MD

Dr. Margaret Shatara is a pediatric neuro-oncologist at Children's Minnesota. She is a member of the Children’s Oncology Group (COG), and Pediatric Neuro-Oncology consortium (PNOC) – one of the largest consortia in North America conducting early phase clinical research in brain tumors – where she also serves as a co-chair of two current PNOC study (PNOC019 and PNOC027) and a member of the scientific committee of the Germ Cell Tumor and Medulloblastoma Working Groups.

Dr. Shatara studied medicine at The University of Jordan, she then joined residency in general pediatrics in 2013 at St. John Medical Center in Michigan, followed by fellowship training in pediatric hematology, oncology and bone marrow transplant at Children’s Hospital of Michigan, then another fellowship in pediatric neuro-oncology at Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Ohio, which she completed in 2020. Dr. Shatara then sought her first academic position at Washington University School of Medicine, in St. Louis, Missouri.

Dr. Shatara was awarded the Wolf W. Zuelzer Fellowship Research Award at Children’s Hospital of Michigan in 2019 and is dedicated to clinical and translational research with focus on the advancement of our understanding into the tumor immunogenicity and microenvironment in pediatric brain cancers. She was also awarded the Principal Investigator of Excellence Award 2023 by PNOC in 2023.

Dr. Shatara takes delight in various facets of life. With a penchant for literature, Dr. Shatara enjoys delving into books to broaden perspectives and stimulate the mind. An advocate for the outdoors, she enjoys outdoors and a balanced lifestyle. Above all, Dr. Shatara treasures family, finding solace and joy in their company, and cherishing shared experiences.

Publications:
1. Shatara M, Regling K, Sabo C, Figueroa M, Taub JW, Rajpurkar M. Ethosuximide-induced Thrombocytopenia: A Case Report. J Pediatr Hematol Oncol. 2019;41(5):420–421. PMID 30212418.
2. Shatara M, Xavier AC, Dombkowski A, et al. Monozygotic twins with neuroblastoma MS have a similar molecular profile: a case of twin-to-twin metastasis. Br J Cancer. 2019;121(10):890–893. PMID 31601961.
3. Shatara M, Schieffer KM, Klawinski D, Thomas DL, Pierson CR, Sribnick EA, Jones J, Rodriguez DP, Deeg C, Hamelberg E, LaHaye S, Miller KE, Fitch J, Kelly B, Leraas K, Pfau R, White P, Magrini V, Wilson RK, Mardis ER, Abdelbaki MS, Finlay JL, Boué DR, Cottrell CE, Ghasemi DR, Pajtler KW, Osorio DS. Clinically aggressive pediatric spinal ependymoma with novel MYC amplification demonstrates molecular and histopathologic similarity to newly described MYCN-amplified spinal ependymomas. Acta Neuropathol Commun. 2021 Dec 11;9(1):192. doi: 10.1186/s40478-021-01296-2. PMID: 34895332; PMCID: PMC8665631.
4. - Shatara M, Blue M, Stanek J, et al: Final Report of the Phase II NEXT/CNS-GCT-4 Trial: GemPOx followed by Marrow-ablative Chemotherapy for Recurrent Intracranial Germ Cell Tumors. Neurooncol Pract. 2024 Apr;11(2):188-198. doi: 10.1093/nop/npad067. eCollection 2024 Apr. PubMed PMID: 38496907; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC10940828.