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Childhood Cancer Research Grant Awarded to Stony Brook University Medical Center

Press Release
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Media Contact:
Traci Shirk
626-792-8247 ext. 50
traci@stbaldricks.org

Childhood Cancer Research Grant Awarded to Stony Brook University Medical Center

St. Baldrick’s Foundation awards $50,000 to help children with cancer

STONY BROOK, N.Y. (February 6, 2012) – It takes life-saving research and access to clinical trials to help children with cancer. The St. Baldrick’s Foundation, a volunteer-driven charity dedicated to raising money for childhood cancer research, awarded an infrastructure grant of $50,000 to Stony Brook University Medical Center to support the Pediatric Hematology/Oncology Program at Stony Brook Long Island Children's Hospital. The Foundation’s infrastructure grants provide institutions with resources to enable them to conduct more research and enroll more kids in ongoing clinical trials – their best hope for a cure.

Worldwide, more than 160,000 children are diagnosed with cancer each year and it remains the leading cause of death by disease among children in the United States. With only 4 percent of all federal cancer research funding dedicated to pediatric cancer research, and more than 70 percent of children receiving treatment through clinical trials, St. Baldrick’s Foundation infrastructure grants are critical to finding cures for all childhood cancers.

"Research related to childhood cancers has been a catalyst to advancing treatments in the past twenty years, and the support of the St. Baldrick's Foundation helps us to continue that path and provide the best treatments for children with cancer," says Robert I. Parker, M.D., Director, Pediatric Hematology/Oncology at Stony Brook Long Island Children's Hospital.

The infrastructure grants, combined with the more than $19.6 million awarded in June, bring the St. Baldrick’s Foundation’s funding total to more than $21 million awarded in 2011. Infrastructure grants were awarded based on the need of the institution and its patients, anticipated results of the grant and local participation in St. Baldrick’s events.

“St. Baldrick’s is an absolutely wonderful cause, so whatever we can do at Stony Brook to aid in their mission, we are more than happy to do,” said Jeremy Marchese, Undergraduate College Advisor at Stony Brook University and St. Baldrick’s volunteer event organizer. “Last year when we hosted a St. Baldrick’s event, we raised over $7,000, so this year we have decided to incorporate it into our annual Battle of the Undergraduate Colleges competition to try to hit our goal of $20,000. The students, faculty and staff were very supportive last year, and we’re very hopeful that the support will be even greater this year.”

Everyone can do their part to support St. Baldrick’s! To locate or organize an event in your community, sign-up to shave, donate or volunteer, visit www.StBaldricks.org. You can also become a fan on Facebook, follow us on Twitter, join our letsCONQUER movement and visit the Foundation’s YouTube and Vimeo channels.

About the St. Baldrick’s Foundation
The St. Baldrick’s Foundation is a volunteer-driven charity committed to funding the most promising research to find cures for childhood cancers and give survivors long and healthy lives. The Foundation funds more in childhood cancer research grants than any organization except the U.S. government. St. Baldrick’s funds are granted to some of the most brilliant childhood cancer research experts in the world and to younger professionals who will be the experts of tomorrow. Funds awarded also enable hundreds of local institutions to participate in national pediatric cancer clinical trials, a child’s best hope for a cure. Since the Foundation’s first grants as an independent charity in 2005, St. Baldrick’s has funded more than $78 million in childhood cancer research. For more information about the St. Baldrick’s Foundation please call 1.888.899.BALD or visit www.StBaldricks.org.