Childhood Cancer Research Grant Awarded to Children’s Hospital Colorado

Press Release
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Traci Shirk
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traci@stbaldricks.org

Childhood Cancer Research Grant Awarded to Children’s Hospital Colorado

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

AURORA, Colo. (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 Children’s Hospital Colorado. 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.

“Cancer treatment has made significant progress over the years because of collaboration between thousands of organizations whose missions know no boundaries,” said Sarah Rush, M.D., oncology physician and researcher at Children’s Hospital Colorado. “The donation from St. Baldrick’s will allow us to reach out to a population of children that has previously not had access to new therapeutic options. Increasing these research opportunities will not only help Children’s Colorado patients, it will help patients worldwide as we share our findings with clinicians and scientists in other states and countries so that together we can aim for a day when all children survive cancer.”

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.

“My son, Justin, wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for the funding of childhood cancer research,” said Lori Miller, Aurora, Colo., mother to St. Baldrick’s Foundation 2012 Ambassador Kid. “Justin has spent the last four years of his treatment in research studies; they have been tough years but he is overcoming the obstacles put in front of him because of the research studies available to him. We are very grateful.”

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.