My name is Karen Ballen and I am the Section Chief for stem cell transplantation and hematologic malignancies, which are blood cancers here at UVA.

Most of the patients that I see have cancers of the blood such as leukemia, lymphoma or myeloma. I specialize in very aggressive, curative treatments for those patients using stem cell transplantation.

When new patients come to us, we send them a letter in advance letting them know what to expect, but it's usually a several hour visit here at UVA and they'll meet with me and also other members of our team including our nurses and social work. We explain the transplant process, the testing that we might need to do with the transplant, what the transplant admission is like and what the recovery period is like so that the patient and their family can be well prepared and informed. 

We have a great team here. We always put the patient first. I think that shows in how we treat patients every day. We also are able to offer very cutting edge clinical trials. Patients are able to receive excellent standard care, but also have the opportunity to receive new treatments that might benefit them.

I really enjoy getting to know people and getting to know our patients as people, and their background and their families. If you try hard enough, there's something that you have in common with everyone, whether it's a sports team, a family interest, travel, and so making that connection is really important. Of course, when we see our patients do well, that's just wonderful and keeps us going. Keeps us going every day.