Mexico Regional Program

Short Biography

Dr. Soad Fuentes-Alabi is a pediatric oncologist and global health expert with over 15 years of experience in advancing childhood cancer care in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). She has played a pivotal role in strengthening health systems, implementing national childhood cancer control plans, and developing data-driven policies to improve pediatric cancer outcomes across Latin America.

She served as Scientific Director of the Pediatric Hematology-Oncology Day Clinic and the Population-Based Pediatric Cancer Registry (ROPESAL) at Fundación Ayúdame a Vivir (FAV) in Hospital Nacional de Niños Benjamin Bloom, El Salvador (2010-2025). During this time, she led critical initiatives in pediatric oncology, including the establishment of El Salvador’s first population-based pediatric cancer registry, contributing to regional cancer surveillance efforts and international research collaborations such as CONCORD-4.

Dr. Fuentes-Alabi earned her Doctor of Medicine (MD) from the Evangelical University of El Salvador, graduating as valedictorian, followed by a Pediatrics Residency at the National University of El Salvador and Hospital Nacional de Niños Benjamin Bloom. She completed her Pediatric Hematology/Oncology Fellowship at Universidad Autónoma de México and Instituto Nacional de Pediatría in 2006, where she was appointed Resident Coordinator for the Fellowship Program during her fifth year of training.

In 2016, she earned a Master of Public Health (MPH) in Clinical Effectiveness with a major in Epidemiology at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, supported by the St. Baldrick’s International Scholarship (2013-2018). Under the mentorship of Dr. Carlos Rodriguez-Galindo, Chair of the Department of Global Pediatric Medicine and Director of St. Jude Global, she developed a cancer epidemiology initiative in Central America aimed at establishing a population-based pediatric cancer registry in El Salvador, facilitating similar initiatives across Central America, and creating a childhood cancer epidemiology consortium to enhance data collection and research capacity in the region.

As a dedicated advocate for regional collaboration, Dr. Fuentes-Alabi has been an active member of the Asociación de Hemato-Oncología Pediátrica de Centroamérica (AHOPCA). She has spearheaded multi-country treatment protocols, including serving as Principal Investigator for the Neuroblastoma AHOPCA-2012 Protocol, and has been instrumental in promoting evidence-based pediatric cancer initiatives tailored to resource-limited settings.

Her expertise extends beyond clinical care, as she has led and advised multiple national pediatric cancer control strategies. In 2019, she was a Technical Committee Member for El Salvador’s National Plan for Pediatric Cancer Control, playing a key role in shaping national policies to ensure sustainable improvements in childhood cancer care.

From 2021 to 2024, she served as International Professional Consultant and Coordinator of the WHO Global Initiative for Childhood Cancer at the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO). In this role, she collaborated with United Nations organizations, including the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) imPACT Review, and worked closely with Ministries of Health across Latin America to implement national cancer control plans, improve early diagnosis and treatment accessibility, and strengthen health system governance to ensure long-term sustainability.

Additionally, during her tenure at PAHO, she collaborated with multiple organizations to implement the WHO Global Initiative for Childhood Cancer (GICC) and its sponsor, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, through the St. Jude Global Pediatric Medicine Department and its multiple transversal programs.

Short Biography

Naomi Echeandia, MSc, is a Senior Program Manager, Mexico Regional Program for the Department of Global Pediatric Medicine. Naomi joined the department in 2016 as a Program Manager for the Mexico Regional Program. She has been instrumental in the design, execution, and success of “Mexico in Alliance with St. Jude,” an intersectoral collaboration that aims to improve survival for children with cancer in Mexico through four pillars: collaboration, modernization, quality, and evidence.

Naomi has developed deep expertise in design thinking and quality improvement and successfully co-designed and co-produced with multiple partners large-scale initiatives, such as Mexico in Alliance with St. Jude, Golden Hour Collaborative.

Naomi has been generous, sharing knowledge and tools with other regional and transversal programs. She has also continuously supported advancing St. Jude Global’s Strategic Partnership with the Institute for Healthcare Improvement. In this new position, Naomi will work towards meeting strategic goals with greater levels of autonomy.  

Born in Mexico, Naomi has a bicultural/bilingual background and comes with extensive project management and fundraising experience in Mexico and the United States. Prior to SJCRH, Naomi was working for the Global Health Initiative at Dana-Farber/Boston Children’s Cancer and Blood Disorders Center. She also worked on the development of binational fundraising strategies for Pronatura Mexico and has worked in the nonprofit sector for over ten years. She received a BA in Communication Sciences from Universidad Intercontinental (in Mexico City) and a MSc in Arts Administration with a focus in Fundraising from Boston University.

Short Biography

Andrea Granadillo is Project Coordinator, Mexico Regional Program for the department of Global Pediatric Medicine. She is a communication professional with experience in marketing strategy and fundraising.

Before joining St. Jude Global, Andrea supported the ALSAC/ St. Jude donor communications team.  In addition, she has served communications departments in corporate and non-profit organizations in both the United States and Venezuela. Andrea holds a bachelor’s in communications from Monteavila University in Caracas, Venezuela, and a master’s in business administration from EAE Business School in Spain, focusing on international management.

In her spare time, Andrea loves to read, write, and go hiking.