DR. ERIC RAABE VS. PEDIATRIC BRAIN TUMORS
With a long history of support from the St. Baldrick’s Foundation, Dr. Eric Raabe of Johns Hopkins University is a “Rockstar Researcher” in pediatric brain tumors.
As an undergraduate student, Dr. Raabe volunteered at a children’s hospital where a pivotal moment influenced his decision to become a pediatric oncologist. He vividly remembers a young boy who had relapsed and was being hospitalized after having one of his lymph nodes biopsied. The boy sat alone in his room with the shades down. In the dark room the boy became more and more withdrawn as he sat and waited for the results. He thought he was going to die.
No sooner had the results come back negative for recurrence of his cancer, than the blinds went up and he wanted a pizza with everything on it. The experience left a lasting impression and prompted Dr. Raabe’s decision to become a pediatric physician scientist. In that moment he realized the impact he could make in a scared and sick child’s life. He decided then and there that he wanted to be part of providing a path to hope and a path to a cure. He wanted to help guide these children from the darkness to a place of hope and light.
Dream Team News: Progress in a Deadly Pediatric Brain Tumor
Formerly known as the St. Baldrick’s – Stand Up to Cancer Pediatric Cancer Dream Team, this team is now the St. Baldrick’s EPICC Team (Empowering Pediatric Immunotherapies for Childhood Cancer).
The Science of Self Defense
One goal of science and research is to make the impossible, possible. So, what if we could train the body to fight off cancer itself? To ferociously attack what is attacking it. It would be a game changer and that’s exactly the kind of revolutionary research St. Baldrick’s supporters are making possible through the St. Baldrick’s – Stand Up to Cancer Pediatric Dream Team.
One of the Dream Team’s research studies was so important, it was recently featured on the cover of the prestigious scientific journal, Nature Medicine. The article outlines new advances to train immune cells in pediatric patients to target deadly brain tumors known as atypical teratoid/rhabdoid tumors (ATRT tumors). These tumors develop in babies and toddlers, who currently only survive an average of 17 months.
An Extraordinary Legacy Continues
The entire childhood cancer community knew that when it came to honoring the legacy of Robert J. Arceci, M.D., Ph.D., only something extraordinary would do.
Known for thinking outside the box and his passion for finding cures, Bob was something of a Renaissance man – treating patients, conducting lab research, editing research publications, creating a PBS documentary on childhood, serving as board member and chair of the Scientific Advisory Committee for St. Baldrick’s and much more.
Robert J. Arceci Innovation Award recipient, Dr. Paul A. Northcott of St. Jude Children’s Research HospitalWhat Is Retinoblastoma?
Dr. Chintagumpala’s specific interests include the management of children with all brain tumors, retinoblastoma, bone tumors and kidney tumors. He serves as chair of the Retinoblastoma Sub-Committee for the Children’s Oncology Group and is a leader in conducting clinical trials involving children with brain tumors and Retinoblastoma.
Dr. Rodríguez-Galindo is a member of the St. Baldrick’s Scientific Advisory Committee. His research focuses on retinoblastoma, bone sarcomas, histiocytic disorders and rare childhood cancers.
What is Retinoblastoma?
Retinoblastoma is a cancer of the eye that only occurs in children and typically in very young children. Two-thirds of retinoblastoma patients are diagnosed before they’re 2 years old and more than 90% are diagnosed before turning 5.
What Is Medulloblastoma?
Dr. Sayour and Dr. Petrosiute are both St. Baldrick’s Scholars. This blog was written by Dr. Petrosiute in May 2014 and updated in April 2020 by Dr. Sayour.
What is medulloblastoma?
Medulloblastoma is the most common malignant brain tumor in children. It originates in the back part of the brain called the cerebellum. In up to 1/3 of cases, it can spread to other parts of the brain and spinal cord. Most cases are diagnosed before age 10.
Announcing the Class of 2020: St. Baldrick’s Fellows and Summer Fellows
St. Baldrick’s donors play a key role in making new and better treatments possible for childhood cancer. One of the most important ways to make life-saving research possible — not only today but for decades to come — is to fund the training of the next generation of childhood cancer researchers.
That’s why we’re excited to announce today a bright and shiny new set of “next generation” grants.
Discoveries that Shift Paradigms with Dr. Poul Sorensen
Formerly known as the St. Baldrick’s – Stand Up to Cancer Pediatric Cancer Dream Team, this team is now the St. Baldrick’s EPICC Team (Empowering Pediatric Immunotherapies for Childhood Cancer).
St. Baldrick’s is all about shifting paradigms. When three men decided to shave heads at their industry’s March 17, 2000 St. Patrick’s Day party, they didn’t set out to change the landscape of childhood cancer research funding. But today the St. Baldrick’s Foundation is the largest non-government funder of childhood cancer research grants.
Twenty years later, the paradigm shifts keep coming, and Poul Sorensen, MD, PhD has been a part of several of them. Last month we joined some very special guests on a visit to his lab at the University of British Columbia, where he is a Professor of Pathology and holds the Johal Endowed Chair in Childhood Cancer Research.
Dr. Poul Sorensen (right) with his Co-Principal Investigator, Dr. Mads Daugaard (left).
What Is Wilms Tumor?
What is Wilms tumor?
Wilms tumor is a cancer of the kidney. It is one of the most common types of childhood cancer, with approximately 500 new patients a year in the United States alone. It was named after German surgeon Max Wilms, who is credited with discovering the cancer in 1899. There are several other less common types of kidney cancer that affect children and teenagers. These include clear cell sarcoma, malignant rhabdoid tumor, and renal cell carcinoma.
Research Outcomes: Climbing Toward Cures for Childhood Cancers
Editor’s Note: Last August, we began a series of blog posts on the outcomes of research that you, our donors, help to fund. Becky Chapman Weaver, Chief Mission Officer, St. Baldrick’s Foundation, provides us with an update.
If you think of a new cure as the top of an enormous mountain, imagine all the work that comes before anyone can stand on that summit for the first time. It takes discovering which routes lead to the top and which are dead ends or sheer cliffs. It takes knowing how to avoid mountain lions, grizzly bears and avalanches. And it takes putting one foot in front of another thousands of times – and often mounting new ascents year after year.
In the world of research, we can think of basic science or laboratory work as the discovery that tells our climber which way to go. Without that, no one gets anywhere. Translational research is our climber using that knowledge to get uphill or to bring those discoveries to the benefit of patients. And a clinical trial tells us whether we’ve achieved the summit – or whether a treatment is more effective for patients than the previous standard of care.
Your support of the St. Baldrick’s Foundation makes every step of the climb possible. Already we have funded more than 1,500 grants, covering every stage of research. Here are a few recent examples of outcomes you can be proud of.
Africa Brings Different Pediatric Cancer Challenges
On this International Childhood Cancer Day, let’s look at the continent of Africa and, specifically, a cancer researcher who is working to create a vaccine for a particularly frightening kind of cancer.
« Newer PostsOlder Posts »
SBF
Tweets »
