Grants Search Results

Juvenile myelomonocytic leukemia (JMML) is a fatal childhood myeloid malignancy with limited therapeutic options. Relapse remains the main cause of treatment failure, most likely due to the persistence of leukemic stem cells, a small population of self-renewing precursor cells that are responsible for long-term maintenance of leukemia growth and drug resistance. This research tests for the therapeutic effects of Stat5 inhibition by pimozide, a clinically used antipsychotic drug, in a subtype of JMML caused by mutations in Ptpn11.

The immune system not only fights infection, but can also fight cancer cells. Recently, doctors have been able to use patients' own immune cells to help treat their cancer. Sometimes, cancer cells can hide from the immune cells. Dr. Richman, the Ben's Green Drakkoman St. Baldrick’s Fellow, aims to learn how cancer cells hide from immune cells, and how to make these cancer-killing immune cells more specific to tumor cells to avoid harming the patient's normal tissues. This grant is named for the Ben's Green Drakkoman Fund, created to honor the memory of Ben Stowell who battled osteosarcoma with an inspiring determination to live life fully. The fund is named after a super hero Ben created named the Green Drakkoman who defeats his enemy, the Evil Alien.

Burkitt lymphoma is an aggressive cancer that occurs in children. Treatment requires intensive chemotherapy, which can have significant side effects. Targeted therapies, which kill cancer cells but spare healthy cells, are urgently needed. As the Jack’s Pack – We Still Have His Back St. Baldrick’s Scholar, Dr. Roth is investigating a promising new drug that kills Burkitt lymphoma by attacking a protein that the tumor needs to survive. This drug may treat Burkitt lymphoma with less side effects than chemotherapy. This grant is named in memory of Jack Klein who bravely battled Burkitts Lymphoma. Love for this special boy inspired family and friends to rally around him as “Jack’s Pack” with their cry, “We Got Jack’s Back”.

Acute Myeloid Leukemia is an aggressive form of childhood cancer for which the therapy causes many side effects and the survival is 60%. Dr. Sakamoto's lab has found that a protein known as CREB is overproduced in AML cells and is associated with a worse prognosis. This research aims to study the protein RSK, which increases CREB activity in AML cells, and find ways to block RSK as a new approach to treat AML.

Based on progress to date, Dr. Shah was awarded a new grant in 2017 to fund an additional year of this Fellow award. One challenge in caring for solid tumor patients is monitoring treatment response, as doctors currently use radiology studies that are unable to detect residual disease. Circulating tumor DNA is released by cancer cells into the patient’s bloodstream and carries tumor-specific mutations. Circulating tumor DNA could be used as a marker to measure tumor burden by a simple blood draw. Researchers recently developed a tool to measure circulating tumor DNA in lung cancer patients. Dr. Shah aims to design a similar tool for three common pediatric tumors. This additional grant is made with generous support from the Dorian J. Murray Foundation which was created in honor and in memory of Dorian 'Dstrong' Murray who passed away from Alveolar Rhabdomyosarcoma. The Foundation is committed to provide financial support to families of children fighting cancer, raise awareness and educate people and fund new and breakthrough research. A portion of Dr. Shah's fellow award was named for the Sweet Caroline Fund, a Hero Fund created to honor the memory of Caroline Richards who was diagnosed with osteosarcoma. This fund pays tribute to her giving spirit and her compassion for others by supporting osteosarcoma research to help kids with cancer.

Ewing sarcoma is the second most common bone tumor in children and adolescents, and overall survival is dismal for patients with recurrent disease. Dr. Shelat recently identified an "Achilles’ heel" in this cancer, and showed that exploiting this weakness using a three drug cocktail cured the disease more than 80% of the time in models. This project is to validate this weakness as a marker for sensitivity to the drug cocktail in Ewing sarcoma and other pediatric cancers, and to find new drug combinations that better target this weakness.

Dr. Sondel has been using an immune-based therapy to treat children with cancer, and is seeing that it is clearly helping some patients. He recently found the presence of an antibody seems to predict which patients will do best with this treatment. This research aims to understand what this antibody is recognizing, and then to determine how it is helping the treatment to work better.

The most common childhood brain tumors are called gliomas. Despite advances in research, the prognosis for the aggressive pediatric gliomas remains poor. Dr. Song is studying how genes important in normal brain development are hijacked to cause brain cells to grow into a tumor and why these tumors are so resistant to treatment. This research aims to increase understanding of the biology of pediatric malignant gliomas and help develop new treatments that will ultimately improve outcome of these fatal tumors. This grant is made with generous support from the McKenna Claire Foundation, a St. Baldrick's partner established by the Wetzel family in memory of their daughter, McKenna. Their mission is to cure pediatric brain cancer by raising awareness, increasing community involvement and funding research.

Relapsed pediatric acute lymphoblastic leukemia is best treated by allogeneic stem cell transplant, including cord blood transplant. The significant number of children with persistent leukemia prior to transplant are at increased risk of post-transplant relapse and poor survival. As the Georgia and the Peachy Keens Hero Fund St. Baldrick's Fellow, Dr. Summers is working to prevent relapse by engineering cord blood donor T cells to target leukemia. The engineered T cells are infused following transplant to kill residual leukemia. This research aims to demonstrate that these cells are functional in eliminating leukemia. A portion of the grant was named for the Georgia and the Peachy Keens Hero Fund created in honor of Georgia Moore and celebrates the 5th year past her cancer diagnosis. As a leukemia survivor, she inspires others to "just keep swimming" in raising awareness, hope, and research dollars.

Medulloblastoma is the most aggressive brain tumor in children. Finding new therapies depends upon a better understanding of the biological mechanisms of medulloblastoma formation. As the recipient of the Hannah's Heroes St. Baldrick's Research Grant, Dr. Van Meir is evaluating the role of a tumor suppressor in medulloblastoma tumorigenesis. Understanding the role of this suppressor could lead to novel therapeutic prospects for children with medulloblastoma. This grant is named for the Hannah's Heroes Hero Fund created in honor of Hannah Meeson and pays tribute to her fight by raising awareness and funding for all childhood cancers.

Based on progress to date, Dr. Vasquez was awarded a new grant in 2017 to fund an additional year of this Fellow award. Dr. Vasquez, the Tap Cancer Out St. Baldrick's Fellow, is investigating the human immune system's response to pediatric brain tumors and how it can be manipulated in order to develop new treatments. Immune therapies can be highly specific for cancer cells because they target proteins only found on the cancer while sparing the normal cells. This research is using nanoparticles that contain the target protein as well as medications that block other cells that dampen the immune system in order to increase the immune system's ability to kill the cancer cells. This grant recognizes the partnership with Tap Cancer Out, a jiu-jitsu based 501(c)(3) nonprofit raising awareness and funds for cancer fighting organizations on behalf of the grappling community.

Based on progress to date, Dr. Wasswa was awarded a new grant in 2018 to fund an additional year of this International Scholar grant. Whereas more than 80% of children with leukemia and lymphoma in the United States are cured with chemotherapy, in Africa a diagnosis with one of these diseases is an outright death sentence. To enable adaptation of chemotherapy protocols from the U.S. to treating children in Africa, Dr. Wasswa is studying the prevalent types of leukemia and lymphoma in children in Malawi and how their genetic code may affect response to chemotherapy.

Based on progress to date, Dr. Wasswa was awarded new grants in 2018 and 2019 to fund additional years of this International Scholar grant. Whereas more than 80% of children with leukemia and lymphoma in the United States are cured with chemotherapy, in Africa a diagnosis with one of these diseases is an outright death sentence. To enable adaptation of chemotherapy protocols from the U.S. to treating children in Africa, Dr. Wasswa is studying the prevalent types of leukemia and lymphoma in children in Malawi and how their genetic code may affect response to chemotherapy.

Based on progress to date, Dr. Lian was awarded new grants in 2018 and 2019 to fund additional years of this International Scholar grant. Based on progress to date, Dr. Lian was awarded a new grant in 2018 to fund an additional year of this International Scholar grant. MYCN-driven neuroblastoma accounts for about 30% of neuroblastomas and is associated with an extremely poor prognosis. Casein Kinase 2 (CK2) is an enzyme that is currently in clinical trials to treat multiple cancers. However, its efficacy on MYCN-driven neuroblastoma remains unknown. Dr. Lian's research aims to test if CK2 inhibition can serve as a new strategy to treat MYCN-driven neuroblastoma. A portion of this grant was named for The Amanda Rozman Pediatric Cancer Research Fund, a St. Baldrick's Hero Fund created in memory of Amanda Rozman and honors her courageous battle with neuroblastoma by funding promising new treatments and clinical trials in the area of translational research.

Based on progress to date, Dr. Aune was awarded new grants in 2017 and 2018 to fund additional years of this Scholar award. Survival from pediatric cancer approaches 80%, but long-term survivors have alarming rates of heart disease as adults. Dr. Aune's lab has developed models to study how pediatric cancer therapies affect the heart. This research aims to determine the potential for new chemotherapy agents to damage the heart. These strategies will lead to a better quality of life for children who survive cancer.

Based on progress to date, Dr. Green was awarded a new grant in 2016 to fund an additional year of this Fellow award. High-grade gliomas (HGG) are brain tumors that are usually fatal in children. Dr. Green's work has recently shown promising results using a new medicine called Selinexor in laboratory models of HGG. Dr. Green, the Luke’s Army Pediatric Cancer Research Fund St. Baldrick’s Fellow, believes Selinexor works by restoring the function of proteins that suppress the tumor and acts as the brakes in cancer cells. Dr. Green's team is testing Selinexor for safety in children with various brain and solid tumors, and to see if it can extend survival. A portion of this grant is named for the Luke's Army Pediatric Cancer Research Fund. Luke Ungerer brought smiles and sunshine wherever he went with plenty to share with everyone. He battled a brain tumor with a positive spirit and inspired others with his courage in his short life. This fund was created to carry on Luke’s legacy of positivity with the hope that it will ripple across many lives for many years to come. Awarded at Boston Children's Hospital and transferred to University of Colorado.

Based on progress to date, Dr. Barbieri was awarded new grants in 2017 and 2018 to fund additional years of this Scholar award. More than half of the patients with high-risk neuroblastoma will relapse despite intensive multimodal therapy. Treatments for these patients are challenging given disease heterogeneity, drug resistance, and toxicity. Dr. Barbieri’s project aims to develop novel targeted therapies for children with high-risk neuroblastoma whose disease is unresponsive to conventional therapies. By better understanding the metabolic changes occurring during the development of neuroblastoma, we will improve the clinical efficacy of current differentiating therapies for this aggressive disease.

Based on progress to date, Dr. Cheshier was awarded new grants in 2017 and 2018 to fund additional years of this Scholar award. Malignant primary brain tumors are the most common solid tumors in children and are a leading cause of death. Dr. Cheshier, Ty Louis Campbell Foundation St. Baldrick’s Scholar, aims to treat these cancers by stimulating the immune system to "eat" the cancer cells while leaving normal cells alone. This strategy combines a newly developed antibody protein that stimulates the "eating" cells of the immune system with known antibody proteins that can target brain tumors. Dr. Cheshier will then immediately translate these novel treatment combinations into clinical trials in children with malignant brain tumors. Awarded at Stanford University, and transferred to University of Utah. This grant is named for the Ty Louis Campbell Foundation, created in memory of Ty Louis Campbell, and funds innovative research and clinical trials specifically geared toward the treatment of the deadliest childhood cancers.

Leukemia cells divide extensively, often by hijacking mechanisms that regulate normal stem cells. Dr. Magee is working to characterize genes that potentially regulate the growth of normal stem cells and leukemia cells. By characterizing these genes, Dr. Magee's team hopes that the proteins encoded by these genes will become targets for novel anti-leukemia therapies.

Based on progress to date, Dr. Mar was awarded a new grant in 2017 to fund an additional year of this Scholar award. Although many children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) are being cured today, a significant number still relapse. New targeted therapies that specifically attack the biology of ALL have great potential to improve outcomes; however, few specific biological vulnerabilities have been identified so far. Dr. Mar's team recently used a method to find novel biological vulnerabilities specific to ALL. As the Ben's Green Drakkoman Fund St. Baldrick's Scholar, Dr. Mar is studying those novel vulnerabilities in leukemia models, with the goal to understand why they are essential to ALL, and to determine their suitability for therapy. This grant is named for the Ben's Green Drakkoman Fund, created to honor the memory of Ben Stowell who battled osteosarcoma with an inspiring determination to live life fully. The fund is named after a super hero Ben created named the Green Drakkoman who defeats his enemy, the Evil Alien.