St. Baldrick’s Foundation Announces a total of $547,464 funding at Baylor College of Medicine

August 27, 2010

Press Release
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Media Contact:
Traci Shirk
(626) 792-8247 ext.50
Traci@stbaldricks.org

St. Baldrick’s Foundation Announces a total of $547,464 funding at Baylor College of Medicine

Local grants are part of more than $12.8 million awarded for pediatric oncology research in 2010

HOUSTON (August, 26, 2010) – The St. Baldrick’s Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to raising money for childhood cancer research, awarded an $84,655 research grant to Eugene Kim, M.D., $330,000 to fund Karen Rabin, M.D., as a St. Baldrick’s Scholar and $132,809 to fund Keita Terashima, M.D., as a St. Baldrick’s Fellow. They are all physician-scientists at Baylor College of Medicine/Texas Children’s Cancer Center.

The St. Baldrick’s Foundation currently funds more in childhood cancer research grants than any organization except the U.S. government. St. Baldrick’s head-shaving events are the fastest growing volunteer-driven fundraising opportunity benefitting childhood cancer research. The Foundation’s volunteer event organizers have led the way to raising more than $21 million this year and approximately $90 million since 2000, making the funding of institutions like Baylor College of Medicine possible.

With only three percent of all federal cancer research funding dedicated to pediatric cancer research, the St. Baldrick’s Foundation grant funds are critical to continue the battle against this devastating disease. Worldwide, more than 160,000 children are diagnosed with cancer each year and cancer is the leading cause of death by disease among children in the United States.

Dr. Kim is one of 18 doctors to receive funding in the research grant category. His research focuses on neuroblastoma. Current therapies for neuroblastoma include the use of powerful chemotherapy, which weakens the immune system and can lead to life-threatening infections. As a result, these immuno-compromised patients frequently require therapy such as granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (GCSF), which helps the body produce white blood cells to help fight infection. In many adult cancers, GCSF has been found to increase the growth of cancer cells in a laboratory setting. Dr. Kim is studying how GCSF and GCSF-Receptor enhance tumor growth, to clarify the appropriate use of GCSF in patients and determine whether GCSF- Receptor may be a new therapeutic target in neuroblastoma.

Dr. Rabin is one of nine new researchers to be funded as a St. Baldrick’s Scholar and overseeing her research will be sponsor Sharon E. Plon, M.D., Ph.D. The Scholars program, created to further the research of promising young pediatric oncologists, bridges the funding-gap between their fellowships and sources of funding available to more established researchers. These awards also provide much-needed research funding to doctors during this critical stage of their careers.

Dr. Rabin’s research focuses on the relationship between Down syndrome and acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). Children with Down syndrome have a 20-fold increased risk of developing ALL and suffer significantly more frequent and severe complications associated with chemotherapy, including life-threatening infections. This research involves abnormal activity of genes called JAK2 and CRLF2 and new drugs. It will also investigate whether gene variants that are associated with severe infection in the general population occur more frequently in those with Down syndrome and ALL who suffer severe infectious complications. If so, patients identified as high-risk for infection could be identified ahead of time, so they may receive enhanced supportive care to prevent severe toxicity.

Dr. Terashima is one of 11 new researchers to be funded as a St. Baldrick’s Fellow and overseeing his research will be mentor Ching Lau, M.D., Ph.D. Pediatric oncology fellowships last for three years. The first year is spent mostly in the clinic and the next two years - those funded by the Foundation - are spent doing research under an expert mentor.

Dr. Terashima’s Fellowship focuses on intracranial Germ Cell Tumors (GCT), which are rare and poorly understood brain tumors found mostly in teenagers. In collaboration with multiple institutions, Dr. Terashima is generating the largest comprehensive genetic profiles of these tumors to help understand how intracranial GCTs arise and what determines their biological and clinical behavior in hopes that the research will lead to new therapeutic targets. His team will also develop a test that requires only a small amount of tumor tissue to correctly sub-classify intracranial GCTs, and initiate the first-ever cell lines of these tumors for determining the impact of these genetic abnormalities and for preclinical drug screening.

“We are grateful to the St. Baldrick's Foundation for the support they provide our researchers at Texas Children's Cancer Center,” said Dr. David Poplack, director of the Texas Children’s Cancer Center and professor of pediatrics – hematology/oncology at Baylor College of Medicine. “These three physician-scientists are conducting important research focused on understanding the basis of pediatric cancers and finding better treatment and screenings, and their work would not be possible without the support of organizations like the St. Baldrick’s Foundation.”

In 2010, there were more than 20 St. Baldrick’s events held in Texas. More than 670 people braved a shave at these events to help conquer kids’ cancer, raising more than $384,000.

“My daughter, Marenna, 5 years old, is a two-time cancer survivor and is currently 20 months off-treatment and no evidence of disease,” said Joanna Crawford, volunteer event organizer for the Houston event. “She was treated at Texas Children's Hospital, which is affiliated with Baylor College of Medicine. The way I look at it is my daughter might be with me today because someone in the past was willing to shave their head.”

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 and visit the St. Baldrick’s YouTube channel.

About Texas Children’s Cancer Center
Texas Children’s Cancer Center in Houston is a joint program of Baylor College of Medicine and Texas Children’s Hospital and is the pediatric program of The Dan L. Duncan Cancer Center, Baylor’s NCI-designated cancer center. It is one of the largest pediatric cancer and hematology research and treatment centers in the country with over 1,800 new patients with cancer and blood diseases and more than 33,000 outpatient visits each year. Physician-scientists at Texas Children’s Cancer Center are at the forefront of medical research, meaning patients receive the most advanced, state-of-the-art medical treatments from highly skilled pediatric cancer treatment experts, and they have access to the nation’s leading clinical research studies.

About The St. Baldrick’s Foundation
The St. Baldrick’s Foundation makes grants to research institutions to find new cures for childhood cancer, and to find treatments to ensure a better quality of life for patients and survivors. The Foundation funds research projects conducted by established pediatric cancer experts, as well as younger professionals who will be the experts of tomorrow. Funds also enable hundreds of local institutions to participate in national pediatric cancer clinical trials, offering the best available care for every child. The St. Baldrick’s Foundation is grateful to its many volunteers (bald or not!), donors and sponsors, including Allied World, Barbicide, Dowling & Partners, elope, Markit, and PartnerRe. For more information about St. Baldrick’s, please call 1-888-899-BALD or visit www.StBaldricks.org.

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