The Children's Tumor Foundation
09/17/2026 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 09/17/2026 07:18
Expanding Access to Pediatric NF1 Care in Canada
The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids) in Toronto has joined the Children's Tumor Foundation NF Clinic Network (NFCN) with a Comprehensive NF1 designation, bringing its longstanding pediatric NF1 expertise to a network that now includes 87 recognized clinics across the United States and Canada.
Led by Dr. Sarah Schwartz and Dr. Busi Zapparoli, the SickKids NF1 Clinic provides comprehensive care for children and youth with NF1, with ongoing follow-up and coordination with subspecialty services based on each patient's needs. The current team builds on more than three decades of NF1 care at SickKids. Established in 1990, the clinic was led for decades by Dr. Patricia Parkin, a leader in pediatric NF1 care in Canada who mentored clinicians who went on to establish centers informed by the SickKids approach.
The clinic's model supports patients from diagnosis through childhood and adolescence. The Café au Lait Macule Screening Clinic within the Department of Dermatology, led by Dr. Irene Lara-Corrales, supports timely NF1 diagnosis. Once diagnosed, patients can be referred to the core NF1 Clinic, where the team provides ongoing follow-up until adulthood and coordinates access to subspecialty care based on individual needs.
The Comprehensive NF1 designation reflects SickKids' commitment to specialized, patient-centered care, patient and family education, participation in clinical research and the NF Registry, and the integration of research and clinical care.
Dr. Schwartz brings extensive experience caring for children and youth with medical and psychosocial complexity, developing outpatient models of care, and educating medical trainees. Research is also an important part of the clinic's next chapter. Dr. Zapparoli, a neuropsychologist and clinician scientist, is advancing NF1 research that includes an initiative engaging patients and families to establish research priorities across Canada and an executive functioning skills intervention for adolescents with NF1.
By joining the NF Clinic Network, SickKids brings both a longstanding foundation in pediatric NF1 care and a growing focus on research shaped by the needs of patients and families. With 87 recognized clinics across the United States and Canada, the NFCN connects people living with NF and their families with experienced clinical teams while strengthening collaboration across the NF field.
The Children's Tumor Foundation published this content on September 17, 2026, and is solely responsible for the information contained herein. Distributed via Public Technologies (PUBT), unedited and unaltered, on September 17, 2026 at 13:18 UTC. If you believe the information included in the content is inaccurate or outdated and requires editing or removal, please contact us at [email protected]