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Press Release

$115,000 Awarded to Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences at the University at Buffalo to Support Promising Childhood Cancer Research


August 22, 2016
    • Press Release
    • For Immediate Release

 

  • Media Contact:
    • Traci Shirk
    • 626.792.8247 ext. 250
    • traci@stbaldricks.org

$115,000 Awarded to Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences at the University at Buffalo to Support Promising Childhood Cancer Research

Part of $22 Million Awarded in New Grants by the St. Baldrick’s Foundation

BUFFALO, N.Y. (August 22, 2016) – The St. Baldrick’s Foundation, a volunteer-powered and donor-centered charity dedicated to raising money for childhood cancer research, is proud to award a $115,000 extended St. Baldrick’s Scholar award to support the work of Matthew Barth, M.D., a researcher at the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences at the University at Buffalo and a physician with UBMD Pediatrics.

Children with B-cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma, whose disease is resistant to initial therapies, do not have good outcomes. Dr. Barth and his team have identified alterations in lymphoma cells that contribute to therapy resistance. Based on this progress, Dr. Barth was awarded an additional year of his St. Baldrick’s Scholar award to investigate the ability to reverse or overcome resistance by targeting these altered pathways using targeted inhibitors.

“While we have made significant progress in the treatment of childhood non-Hodgkin lymphoma, the survival rate for children with B-cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma that doesn’t respond to initial treatments or that returns after an initial response to treatment is dismal,” said Barth. “Only about 20 to 30 percent of such children survive their lymphoma due to development of a high level of resistance to current treatments. A better understanding of how the tumor cells become resistant to current therapeutic options and the identification of newer treatment options that may be able to circumvent this resistance are critical to future improvements in survival in this high-risk disease.”

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About St. Baldrick’s Foundation
As the largest private funder of childhood cancer research grants, the St. Baldrick’s Foundation believes that kids are special and deserve to be treated that way. St. Baldrick’s funds are granted to some of the most brilliant childhood cancer research experts who are working to find cures and better treatments for all childhood cancers. Kids need treatments as unique as they are – and that starts with funding research just for them. Join us at StBaldricks.org to help support the best cancer treatments for kids.

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