$225,000 Awarded to The Research Institute at Nationwide Children’s Hospital to Support Childhood Cancer Research

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

COLUMBUS, Ohio. (August 23, 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 $225,000 St. Baldrick’s Scholar grant to support the work of Ryan Roberts, M.D., Ph.D., a researcher at The Research Institute at Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Columbus, Ohio.

With this grant, Dr. Roberts will focus on finding how and why bone cancers like osteosarcoma spread through the body. Once bone cancer tumors spread to the lungs, they’re often difficult to treat. Previous discoveries have led Dr. Roberts to believe that bone cancer tumor cells can talk to other cells in the lungs using special signals. He hopes this grant will help his lab identify the special signals and develop medicine to stop the tumors from sending them, therefore preventing the cancer from spreading to the lungs.

“Besides proving the potential utility of attacking cancer in a very different way than we have in the past, developing drugs that target the mechanisms these tumors use to spread to and grow in the lungs could completely change the natural history of this disease. If our very promising early results play out, we could improve survival in a group of patients that hasn’t seen prognosis change since the 1960s,” said Dr. Roberts. “We sincerely appreciate the support of St. Baldrick’s and of all the donors. Their work helps make research like ours possible.”

Help the St. Baldrick’s Foundation continue to fund the best research, wherever it takes place. Make a donation today.

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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