$50,000 Childhood Cancer Research Grant Awarded to Keck Medicine of the University of Southern California

LOS ANGELES (December 17, 2014) – The St. Baldrick’s Foundation, a volunteer-driven and donor-centered charity dedicated to raising money for children’s cancer research, is proud to award a one-year, $50,000 grant to Keck Medicine of the University of Southern California (USC). This grant is one of 40 infrastructure grants awarded as part of the Foundation’s recent grant cycle, totaling more than $2.5 million and surpassing last year’s total awarded during this same period.

Keck Medicine of USC includes one of the most comprehensive adolescent and young adult (AYA) programs in Los Angeles, the Adolescent and Young Adult Cancer Program at USC Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center (AYA@USCNorris), which is focused on improving outcomes of AYA patients through patient care, clinical trials, research and education. The program is open to patients from age 15-39, a wider age range than many programs, based on the gap identified by a Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results (SEER) study in 2000. This grant will fund an experienced and certified research and data coordinator to enroll patients into clinical trials, manage and enter data, and to build a comprehensive database which will serve as the backbone for all future AYA studies.

“We are deeply appreciative to the St. Baldrick’s Foundation for this infrastructure grant that will allow us to initiate AYA-specific cancer clinical trials at USC Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center,” said Stuart Siegel, M.D., associate director for pediatric oncology at USC Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center and co-medical director of AYA@USCNorris program. “Clinical trials are the key final step to translate our research discoveries into direct patient benefit. With one of the largest single institution AYA cancer populations in the country, seeing nearly 2,000 patients per year, we are poised to make important contributions to improving the treatment of adolescents and young adults with cancer as a result of this support.”

This series of grants, combined with the more than $24.7 million awarded in July to fund cutting-edge research, brings the St. Baldrick’s Foundation’s funding total to more than $27.2 million awarded in 2014 to support research being done at institutions across the country. This set of 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 fundraising events and activities.

To learn how you can get involved visit www.StBaldricks.org, and connect with St. Baldrick’s on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Vimeo.

About 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. St. Baldrick’s coordinates its signature head-shaving events worldwide where participants collect pledges to shave their heads in solidarity with kids with cancer, raising money to fund research. Since 2005, St. Baldrick’s has awarded more than $154 million to support lifesaving research, making the Foundation the largest private funder of childhood cancer research grants. 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, and the new International Scholar grants train researchers to work in developing countries. For more information about the St. Baldrick’s Foundation please call 1.888.899.BALD or visit www.StBaldricks.org.

About USC Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center
USC Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center has been leading the fight to make cancer a disease of the past. As one of the eight original comprehensive cancer centers in the United States, its mission is to treat and prevent cancer by advancing and integrating education, research, and personalized patient care. For more than 40 years, USC Norris has been revolutionizing cancer research with innovative surgical techniques and novel cancer treatments. The cancer center’s breakthroughs and discoveries in the field of epigenetics have led the way to a greater understanding of the underlying causes of cancer and new methods of prevention, detection, and treatment. With a multidisciplinary team of more than 250 dedicated scientists and physicians, USC Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center offers patients hope in the battle against cancer.

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