Grants Search Results

Based on progress to date, Dr. Wulff was awarded a new grant in 2019 to fund an additional year of this Fellow award. Ewing sarcoma (ES) is the second most common bone cancer in children. Approximately 25% of children with ES have metastasis, which are tumors that have spread to other parts of the body, such as the lungs. It is especially difficult to treat these children and more than 70% die within 5 years. Therefore, it is important to learn about what it is that allows these tumors to spread and hopefully develop new drugs to treat these patients. Certain proteins are expressed at much higher levels in metastatic lung tumors compared to the primary bone tumor, suggesting that these proteins play a role in allowing the tumor to spread. Dr. Wulff is studying the role of these proteins by increasing or decreasing them, and then testing how this affects the cancer's ability to grow and spread. Dr. Wulff's team thinks that the cancer's ability to spread can be decreased by decreasing a particular set of proteins. In addition, she is testing new drugs that inhibit the function of these proteins, with the hope to identify new therapies that will improve overall survival rates for patients with metastatic ES. This is grant is generously supported by Team Clarkie, a St. Baldrick's Hero Fund. Clarkie Carroll was diagnosed with Ewing sarcoma in his upper right femur in 2013. He endured surgery and treatments with strength, positivity and a sense of humor. Today he has no evidence of disease. A portion of this grant was also funded by this Hero Fund. It was created to honor Clarkie and ensure researchers have the resources to further Ewing’s sarcoma research as well as stimulate greater awareness and inspire others to believe pediatric cancer research can and will lead to a cure.

Synovial sarcoma is a soft-tissue cancer in adolescents and young adults. More than half of patients develop metastasis, or spread of the cancer to the lungs. Once it has metastasized, synovial sarcoma is fatal in nearly all patients. Dr. Jones' team has developed a model of synovial sarcoma and found that when the tumor spread to the lungs many white blood cells begin to infiltrate the tumors. He is studying whether these particular white blood cells from the immune system are trying to fight the tumor or are helping the tumor grow and spread to the lungs. This team is testing if the presence of these immune cells in a large panel of human synovial sarcomas are associated with the same patients developing clinical spread of disease.

Adolescent and young adult (AYA) cancer survivors have an elevated risk of medical problems that can impact the quality and length of their lives, but few studies have focused on the occurrence of late medical conditions in this population. Using data on nearly all AYA cancer survivors in California, the Rich and Weissman Family Lymphoma Survivorship Fund St. Baldrick's Research Grant is identifying how often specific late medical conditions occur and how the risk of these medical conditions vary by clinical and patient factors. The results of the study will identify subgroups of young patients at increased risk of serious medical conditions, information critical to improving survivorship care and outcomes. Jared Weissman is a Hodgkin’s lymphoma survivor thanks to a clinical trial made possible by research. This Hero Fund honors his survivorship and his grandparents, Terri and Barry Rich, by funding research for new treatment options for cures and less toxic after effects for survivors.

Rhabdomyosarcoma is a deadly cancer when spread through the body. With the Aiden's Army Fund St. Baldrick's Research Grant, Dr. Li is combining drugs already FDA approved for adult cancers in a way that stops rhabdomyosarcoma tumor cells from creating new tumors elsewhere in the body. This approach is unique because Dr. Li not only aims to stop the tumor cells from growing, but will try to convert what is left to non-cancerous cells similar to what is found in normal muscle. This grant is funded by and named for the Aiden's Army Fund, a St. Baldrick's Hero Fund. Aiden Binkley who was diagnosed with Stage IV rhabdomyosarcoma at age 8. This bright, funny and courageous little boy believed he got cancer so he could grow up to find a cure for it. His vision is being carried on by Aiden’s Army through the funding of research. They will march until there is a cure!

All proteins in our bodies are made using assembly instructions contained in messenger RNAs, or mRNA. mRNA molecules themselves are constructed from building blocks called exons. When exons are joined together, or 'spliced', out of order, the resulting protein code is scrambled. This is what causes several types of leukemias in older adults. We have discovered that incorrect splicing also occurs with high frequency in childhood leukemias originating in antibody-producing B-cells. Dr. Thomas-Tikhonenko is testing two ideas. The first is that incorrect splicing is needed to sustain uncontrolled multiplication of leukemic cells. The second is that restoring proper exon assembly with specific drugs would slow down or block cancerous growth. If successful, these studies could pave the way to new clinical trials and improved survival of children with leukemia.

Cancer is a genetic disease in which a cell learns to take advantage of certain processes that allow that cell to grow and survive unchecked. Bone cancer is an aggressive disease in both children and pet dogs that can be painful and often leads to death of the patient even with aggressive surgery and chemotherapy. Most often these patients die because the tumor has spread to other areas of the body, not from the original bone tumor, which is often removed with surgery. Therefore, in order to better battle this disease, new therapies that target the cells that spread are needed. Preliminary work with a new drug that targets this process has shown promise as just such a therapy. The goal of The Ben's Green Drakkoman St. Baldrick's Research Grant is to more thoroughly investigate this drug for its ability to prevent or delay spread of the tumor cells using both human and dog bone tumor cells. This grant is named for the Ben's Green Drakkoman Fund, a St. Baldrick's Hero 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.

Dr. Deatrick is developing family support and education materials for maternal caregivers of young adult survivors of childhood brain tumors to improve their quality of life and quality of life of the survivors. Training in Problem Solving (TIPS) for Caregivers, leverages past research, eHealth, and Bright IDEAS family problem-solving intervention (an evidence-based intervention for caregivers of children newly diagnosed with cancer) to target challenges identified by maternal caregivers to their family management. TIPS is targeted to caregivers with “condition-focused FM” (family life organized around the special needs of the survivor). Using the prototype session developed in partnership with maternal caregivers, Dr. Deatrick will work with them to design the web-based intervention. She will develop other sessions of TIPS and adapt them to technology, which will be used “live” online with a health care provider and online with interactive homework sheets, videos, and other resources. Future research will involve fathers and other caregivers, survivors, and other family members.

Children and adolescents with cancer and their families are at increased risk for psychosocial problems that can contribute to poorer health and quality of life, and it has been recommended that pediatric cancer centers develop programs to screen patients and families for psychosocial risk. The majority of pediatric cancers centers do not have practices in place to effectively and routinely screen all patients and families for psychosocial difficulties, with time and resources being acknowledged as barriers to implementation. Dr. Gilleland Marchak is developing a novel, patient-friendly technology to screen for psychosocial risk and evaluating its use at a large pediatric cancer center. Study outcomes will include data related to feasibility and acceptability of electronic screening, as well as efficacy in identifying families in distress and connecting them with family support team members to address problems in real time. By successfully leveraging technology to reduce barriers to universal psychosocial screening, we can improve communication between oncology providers and families regarding critical mental health, neurocognitive, and social issues that may negatively impact pediatric cancer treatment and health outcomes.

This institution is a member of a research consortium which is being funded by St. Baldrick's: Reducing Ethnic Disparities in Acute Leukemia (REDIAL) Consortium. For a description of this project, see the consortium grant made to the lead institution: Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX.

This grant supports a Nurse Coordinator who works with new patients in the combined Adolescent and Young Adult and Cancer Survivor Clinic. The Nurse Coordinator also works as a guide throughout the process of scheduling visits, and provides information and resources throughout the time that the patients attend the Clinic.

This grant supports Clinical Research Nurses at both Children's Hospital of Wisconsin and the Medical College of Wisconsin, in a joint clinical trials education initiative. The nurses are collaborating on educational strategies and materials focused on cellular and immunotherapies for children, adolescents, and young adults with cancer. These resources will educate patients, families, and healthcare providers on clinical trials in order to enroll more kids on clinical trials, often their best hope for a cure.

This grant supports research staff who are developing a Transition Clinic for Adolescents and Young Adults. The grant also supports a Nurse Educator who is dedicated to aiding pediatric and teenage cancer survivors in successfully transitioning to adult health care services.

This grant supports an Adolescent and Young Adult (AYA) Navigator who enrolls adolescents and young adults with pediatric-type tumors on clinical trials, often their best hope for a cure.

This grant funds a Clinical Research Nurse who will also act as the Adolescent and Young Adult (AYA) Liaison to ensure that more kids, adolescents, and young adults can be treated on clinical trials, often their best hope for a cure.

This grant supports construction of a REDCap database that will capture valuable clinical information on demographics, diagnosis, and treatment information for adolescent and young adult (AYA) cancer patients. The grant also supports a Patient Care Navigator who maintains the REDcap database and works to coordinate resources with other departments. This database helps track patients over time, giving more information to researchers and providing better long-term care for childhood cancer survivors.

Based on progress to date, Dr. Parameswaran was awarded new grants in 2019 and 2020 to fund additional years of this Scholar grant. Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML) is the second most common acute leukemia in children, and current treatment strategies are inadequate to cure AML. Dr. Parameswaran is developing a new strategy using Natural Killer cells, which are a type of white blood cells with potential to kill cancer cells. Cancer cells often produce a protein that makes Natural Killer cells less active, which helps the cancer cells escape from NK cell-mediated killing. Dr. Parameswaran and her team are developing methods to stop this NK cell inactivation and thereby improve NK cell function to treat pediatric AML. This grant is generously supported by Rays of Hope, a St. Baldrick's Hero Fund created in memory of Rayanna Marrero. She was a happy 3 year old when she was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia. She battled ALL and won but a treatment induced secondary cancer claimed her life at age eight. Rayanna had an amazing attitude and loved life. She, like so many kids facing childhood cancer, did not allow it to define who she was. This Hero Fund aspires to give hope to kids fighting cancer through research.

Telomeres are special sequences of DNA located at the ends of every chromosome, and are essential to maintaining proper cellular function. If telomeres are damaged or degraded, they may cause healthy cells to transform into cancer cells. Dr. O'Sullivan and his team have discovered a protein called RAD51AP1 that appears at high levels in neuroblastoma tumor cells, and they have determined that having less of this protein stops telomere damage in cells. Dr. O'Sullivan is investigating the consequences and impact of RAD51AP1 inhibition on the proliferation and survival of neuroblastoma tumor cells.

Osteosarcoma is the most common bone cancer in children. Typical treatment includes cancer-killing drugs for several weeks followed by surgery. These drugs work for some patients but not for others. Doctors need a way to identify which patients respond to treatment and which don’t. Dr. Roblyer is studying the efficacy of a new light-based technology to determine when and if patients respond to treatment. This technology is low-cost, fast, and measurements are taken with a hand-held or wearable probe, like a Fitbit for cancer. If successful, this research will provide doctors with a new and simple method to personalize and improve treatment for each child with osteosarcoma.

Based on progress to date, Dr. Roberts was awarded a new grant in 2019 to fund an additional year of this Scholar grant. Dr. Roberts is focused on developing new treatments for patients with metastatic bone tumors. These tumors, once they have spread to the lungs, are incredibly difficult to treat. Dr. Roberts and his team will study the pathways that proteins move between osteosarcoma cancer cells and lung tissues. These experiments are helping Dr. Roberts and his team to better understand the biology that lets those tumors grow in the lung and will evaluate treatments which might prevent metastases from growing, and make them treatable when they do.

Pediatric cancer patients that have high-risk solid tumors can be very difficult to treat, particularly when their cancer has come back after previous treatment or has spread to multiple areas of the body. Dr. Stewart is looking for specific mutations in the tumors of these patients, and testing new cancer drugs to customize treatment to give patients with relapsed high-risk solid tumors with better treatment options. This grant is made with generous support from the Invictus Fund, a St. Baldricks's Hero Fund which was created in memory of Holden Gilkinson. It honors Holden'’s unconquerable spirit in his battle with bilateral Wilms tumor by funding cures and treatments to mitigate side and late effects of childhood cancer.