St. Baldrick’s Foundation Awards $105,000 in Summer Fellow Grants to Support Next Generation of Childhood Cancer Researchers

LOS ANGELES (March 25, 2014) – The St. Baldrick’s Foundation, a volunteer-driven and donor-centered charity dedicated to raising money for childhood cancer research, is proud to announce that it has awarded $105,000 to support summer fellows at 21 institutions across the U.S.

At $5,000 each, this funding will support the work of medical school and college students who spend a summer working in a pediatric oncology lab. Each St. Baldrick’s Summer Fellow will complete a research project under the leadership of a pediatric oncology expert. Due to a lack of federal funding, pediatric cancer is not the most sought after specialty, but the St. Baldrick’s Foundation hopes that this kind of experience will inspire some of the best and brightest scientific minds to focus on a career in childhood cancer research.

“I now feel I am extremely likely to have a career in pediatric oncology research,” said Emma Vartanian, former St. Baldrick’s Summer Fellow at Joan & Sanford I. Weill Medical College of Cornell University. “It was my interest in tackling cancer that originally drew me to medicine, and while I want to make patient care the cornerstone of my career, my greatest professional goal would be to not only provide the best therapies available, but to discover new ones that fill current needs in the treatment of childhood cancers. Given the rapidly changing landscape of emerging therapies, I knew making an impact in this field would require in-depth knowledge of laboratory research, and this fellowship gave me the fundamental tools I needed to understand the field I hope to enter.”

The following institutions will receive a St. Baldrick’s Summer Fellow grant:

• Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, Los Angeles, Calif.
• University of Southern California, Los Angeles, Calif.
• Stanford University, Palo Alto, Calif.
• University of Colorado, Denver, Colo.
• Yale University, New Haven, Conn.
• Georgetown University, Washington, D.C.
• University of Hawaii, Honolulu, Hawaii
• University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa
• Boston Children’s Hospital, Boston, Mass.
• Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Boston, Mass.
• University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Mich.
• Helen DeVos Children’s Hospital, Grand Rapids, Mich.
• University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minn.
• Duke University, Durham, N.C.
• The Feinstein Institute for Medical Research, Manhasset, N.Y.
• Cornell University, New York, N.Y.
• Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio
• Cincinnati Children’s Hospital, Cincinnati, Ohio
• Pennsylvania State University, Hershey, Pa.
• Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pa.
• University of Texas Health Science Center San Antonio, San Antonio, Texas

To locate or organize an event or Do What You Want fundraiser in your community, sign-up to shave, donate or volunteer, visit www.StBaldricks.org. Also become a fan on Facebook, follow us on Twitter, and visit the Foundation’s YouTube and Vimeo channels.

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 $127 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.

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