St. Baldrick’s Foundation Announces $19.6 Million in Grants to Fund Promising and Innovative Childhood Cancer Research

July 14, 2011

Press Release
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Media Contact:
Traci Shirk
626.792.8247 x50
Traci@stbaldricks.org

St. Baldrick’s Foundation Announces $19.6 Million in Grants to Fund Promising and Innovative Childhood Cancer Research

2011 Breaks Records for Total Funds Granted

LOS ANGELES (July 14, 2011) – It takes life-saving research to Conquer Kids’ Cancer! The St. Baldrick’s Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to raising awareness and funds for childhood cancer research, is leading the charge against kids’ cancer. Today’s announcement of more than $19.6 million in new grants brings the total to more than $21 million awarded for the fiscal year. Every dollar raised came from the creativity and dedication of St. Baldrick’s volunteers and the generosity of donors, working together to help fund the best possible research to Conquer Kids’ Cancer. 

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. St. Baldrick’s funds are critical to continue the battle against this devastating disease. This new funding has set a record for the most funds granted in a single year by the Foundation.

Funds were awarded in the following categories: Consortium, Fellows, Scholars, Research Grants and Supportive Care Research Grants. All funding applications were peer-reviewed by leading pediatric cancer researchers who volunteer their time and expertise and make funding recommendations to the St. Baldrick’s Foundation’s board of directors.

This year the St. Baldrick’s Foundation is funding a new category of grants for researchers from different institutions to work together called Consortium grants. The result is a collaborative effort from researchers across the U.S. and around the world working together toward a common result, to learn more about the causes and effects of a specific disease and to develop innovative treatments for childhood cancers. Most are three to five years in length. St. Baldrick’s has funded research groups in the past, but this year marks the first formal Consortium grant category.

“These ‘group science’ projects are some of the most exciting grants I’ve seen,” says Jeffrey M. Lipton, M.D., Ph.D., chairman of the St. Baldrick’s Foundation’s Scientific Advisory Task Force and Director of Pediatric Hematology/Oncology and Stem Cell Transplantation at the Steven and Alexandra Cohen Children’s Medical Center of New York. Lipton is also president of the American Society of Pediatric Hematology/Oncology (ASPHO). “The ability to bring scientists of diverse expertise together to solve important problems will unquestionably accelerate the path to cure and prevention of pediatric cancer. This is a great thing for children with cancer.” 

Consortium Grants are granted to groups of researchers at multiple institutions. Each Consortium grant is given to one lead institution to manage on behalf of all the member institutions. They have been awarded at the following institutions:

• Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia Committee of the Children’s Oncology Group, Arcadia, Calif.
• Childhood and Adolescent Lymphoma Cell Therapy Consortium, New York Medical College, Maria Fareri Children’s Hospital at Westchester Medical Center, Valhalla, N.Y.
• Children’s Oncology Group, Arcadia, Calif.
• Consortium for Pediatric Interventional Research, Beckman Research Institute of the City of Hope, Duarte, Calif.
• Consortium on Pediatric Myelodysplastic Syndromes and Ribosome Dysfunction, The Feinstein Institute for Medical Research, New Hyde Park, N.Y.
• Ex vivo Expanded Hematopoietic Progenitors for Acute Myelogenous Leukemia Supportive Care, Seattle Children’s Hospital, Seattle, Wash.
• International Plueropulmonary Blastoma Registry, Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, Ohio
• New Approaches for Neuroblastoma Therapy, Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, Los Angeles, Calif.
• Pediatric Blood and Marrow Transplant Consortium, University of Utah MedicalSchool/National Marrow Donor Program, Minneapolis, Minn.
• Pediatric Cancer Genomics Conference, The Translational Genomics Institute, Phoenix, Ariz.
• Texas-Oklahoma Pediatric Neuro-Oncology Consortium, Texas Children’s Hospital at Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas
• The Interactive International Neuroblastoma Risk Group Database, The University of Chicago, Chicago, Ill.
• Translating the Science of Testicular Tissue Cryopreservation, The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pa.

“The St. Baldrick’s Foundation is proud to support so many important research projects this year, from the most promising new pediatric oncologists to world-renown experts in the field,” says Becky Chapman Weaver, chief philanthropy officer for the St. Baldrick’s Foundation. “It takes the creativity of thousands of volunteers and the generosity of hundreds of thousands of donors to fund these grants. We are confident that the money raised is going to the best possible research to help kids survive cancer and live long and healthy lives.”

St. Baldrick’s Fellows receive funding for two years with the possibility of an additional year, based on progress. They have been awarded at the following institutions:

• Columbia University Medical Center, Morgan Stanley Children’s Hospital, New York, N.Y.
• Comer Children’s Hospital at The University of Chicago, Chicago, Ill.
• Indiana University, Riley Hospital for Children, Indianapolis, Ind.
• Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Johns Hopkins Children’s Center, Baltimore, Md.
• Northwestern University, Children’s Memorial Hospital, Chicago, Ill.
• Penn State University College of Medicine, Penn State Hershey Children’s Hospital, Hershey, Pa.
• Texas Children’s Hospital at Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas
• The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pa.
• University Hospitals Rainbow Babies & Children’s Hospital, Cleveland, Ohio
• University of California San Francisco Benioff Children’s Hospital, San Francisco, Calif.
• University of California, Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, Los Angeles, Calif.
• University of Colorado, Children’s Hospital Colorado, Denver, Colo.
• University of Pittsburgh, Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pa.
• University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Children’s Medical Center, Dallas, Texas
• Vanderbilt University, Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt, Nashville, Tenn.

St. Baldrick’s Scholar funding is to further the research of promising young pediatric oncologists by bridging the funding gap between their fellowships and funding available to more established researchers. Scholars receive funding for three years with the possibility of an additional two years based on progress. They have been awarded at the following institutions:

• Beckman Research Institute of the City of Hope, Duarte, Calif.
• Children’s Hospital Boston, Boston, Mass.
• Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, Los Angeles, Calif.
• Children’s Hospitals and Clinics of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minn.
• Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, Ohio
• Dana-Farber/Children’s Cancer Center, Boston, Mass.
• Emory University, Aflac Cancer Center, Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, Atlanta, Ga.
• Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Johns Hopkins Children’s Center, Baltimore, Md.
• Penn State University College of Medicine, Penn State Hershey Children’s Hospital, Hershey, Pa.
• St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, Memphis, Tenn.
• Stanford University Medical Center, Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital at Stanford, Stanford, Calif.
• Steven and Alexandra Cohen Children’s Hospital, New Hyde Park, N.Y.
• The University of Michigan, C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital, Ann Arbor, Mich.
• The University of North Carolina, North Carolina Children’s Hospital, Chapel Hill, N.C.
• University Hospitals Rainbow Babies & Children’s Hospital, Cleveland, Ohio
• University of California San Francisco Benioff Children’s Hospital, San Francisco, Calif.
• University of Colorado, Children’s Hospital Colorado, Denver, Colo.

Research Grants fund research to find new and better cures for childhood cancer. Some focus on a single disease type, and others will help children and teens with all types of childhood cancers. Awards are for a period of one year. They have been awarded at the following institutions:

• Albert Einstein College of Medicine at Yeshiva University, The Children’s Hospital at Montefiore Medical, Bronx, N.Y.
• Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Children’s Hospital, Boston, Mass.
• Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, Los Angeles, Calif.
• Columbia University Medical Center, Morgan Stanley Children’s Hospital, New York, N.Y.
• Dana-Farber/Children’s Hospital Cancer Center, Boston, Mass.
• Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle, Wash.
• Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Johns Hopkins Children’s Center, Baltimore, Md.
• New York University School of Medicine, Langone Medical Center, New York, N.Y.
• Rush Children’s Hospital at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago, Chicago, Ill.
• Stanford University Medical Center, Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital at Stanford, Stanford, Calif.
• Texas Children’s Hospital at Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas
• The University of Iowa Children’s Hospital, Iowa City, Iowa
• Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, Bethesda, Md.
• University Hospitals Rainbow Babies & Children’s Hospital, Cleveland, Ohio
• University of Alabama at Birmingham, Children’s of Alabama, Birmingham, Ala.
• University of California Davis Children’s Hospital, Sacramento, Calif.
• University of California San Diego, Rady Children’s Hospital San Diego, San Diego, Calif.
• University of Hawaii, Kapiolani Medical Center for Women and Children, Honolulu, Hawaii
• University of Illinois Medical Center - Chicago, Chicago, Ill.
• Wayne State University, Children’s Hospital of Michigan, Detroit, Mich.
•  West Virginia University Children’s Hospital, Morgantown, W.V.
• Yale University, Yale-New Haven University Children’s Hospital, New Haven, Conn.

Supportive Care Research Grants address the need to improve the management of symptoms, quality of life, health communications, psychosocial support and more for children and teens fighting cancer. They have been awarded at the following institutions:

• Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, Los Angeles, Calif.
• Connecticut Children’s Medical Center, Hartford, Conn.
• Primary Children’s Medical Center, Salt Lake City, Utah
• Wake Forest University Health Sciences, Brenner Children’s Hospital, Winston-Salem, N.C.

In addition to this new $19.6 million, the St. Baldrick’s Foundation funded more than $1.4 million in grants earlier this fiscal year, as well as grants to beneficiaries outside the U.S. from St. Baldrick’s events held in those countries. Also not included are funds for St. Baldrick’s 11 Fellows and 18 Scholars who are continuing their projects begun in previous years, as those funds were fully committed in the year they were funded.

For additional information about where the funds go, please visit www.stbaldricks.org/where-the-money-goes/.

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. Grants are traditionally awarded twice a year in the months of July and October. Since the Foundation’s first grants as an independent charity in 2005, St. Baldrick’s has funded more than $76 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.

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