Childhood Cancer Research Grant Awarded to Phoenix Children’s Hospital

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

Childhood Cancer Research Grant Awarded to Phoenix Children’s Hospital 

St. Baldrick’s Foundation awards $63,164 to help kids with cancer

PHOENIX (January 9, 2011) – 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 $63,164 to Phoenix 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.

“The money raised through St. Baldrick’s dramatically impacts the survival rate for children with cancer. Seventy-five percent off all children with cancer here at Phoenix Children’s are cured of the disease,” says to Dr. Jessica Boklan, pediatric oncologist at the Center for Cancer & Blood Disorders at Phoenix Children’s Hospital. “The reason the cure rate is so dramatic is because kids with cancer are participants in clinical trials.”

“Our ability to provide cutting-edge, family centered care to children is positively impacted by the community’s investment in our dedication to clinical research,” says Michael Etzl, Jr., M.D., Division Chief of the Center for Cancer and Blood Disorders at Phoenix 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.

“MiniCo Insurance Agency was very proud to be a part of a St. Baldrick’s event in 2011,” said   Dan Sommer, volunteer event organizer of the Skeptical Chymist Arizona event. “Many of our shavees have a personal involvement with childhood cancer, and we were all excited to provide a helping hand. MiniCo looks forward to contributing to St. Baldrick’s success in 2012.”

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.