St. Baldrick’s donors have just funded over $8.9 million to advance research to find cures for childhood cancers and give survivors long and healthy lives. This investment brings the total granted by St. Baldrick’s for research since 2005 to more than $322 million.
These 23 new grants include:
- 7 new St. Baldrick’s Scholars
- 9 current Scholars receiving continuing funding for another year of research
- 2 new International Scholars, one from Egypt and one from Jordan
- 1 current International Scholar from India receiving funding for another year of research
The remaining grants support the clinical trials of the Children’s Oncology Group and another year of funding for 2 team science (consortium) projects and for the Pediatric Cancer Data Commons.
The St. Baldrick’s Foundation supports lifesaving research throughout the world, awarding grants that focus on all major types of childhood cancers. Read on for more about just 3 of these new research projects. Explore the links at the bottom to view all the grants.
Understanding Radiotherapy and Pediatric Brain Tumors
St. Baldrick’s Scholar, Dr. Claire Vanpouille-Box, is advancing research into radiotherapy treatment for brain tumors. Recently scientists found that radiotherapy can activate the immune system against multiple tumors. However, the tumors of patients who undergo radiotherapy always regrow, which suggest that radiotherapy is not activating immunity against these tumors. Dr. Vanpouille-Box will work to understand why this is happening to develop strategies that will improve treatment for pediatric brain cancer patients.
Developing an Inexpensive and Accurate Cancer Detecting Tool
St. Baldrick’s International Scholar, Dr. Anirban Das is developing a new, inexpensive tool to identify children with a genetic variation that can lead to deadly cancers which may not respond to conventional treatments. Many older tests often fail to detect this genetic trait accurately. With this new tool, Dr. Das has found that these cancers may be more common than previously thought, and can also develop in adolescents and young adults. The tool also helps detect patients whose cancers do not respond to chemotherapy and radiation but could respond to immunotherapy. With this additional year of funding, Dr. Das is now expanding the use of his tool to identify additional patients and cancer types who may benefit from this approach. This is important especially for developing countries, where such cancers are more prevalent. The low cost, and the ability to diagnose the genetic condition from tumors directly, or even from saliva without additional blood tests, are distinct advantages in these resource limited settings.
Advancing Research into Rare Cancers like Histiocytosis
The St. Baldrick’s Foundation has supported the North American Consortium for Histiocytosis (NACHO) since 2014. Histiocytosis is a group of rare disorders, most common in children, in which there is an over-production of white blood cells known as histiocytes that can lead to organ damage and tumor formation. Before NACHO, there was little progress in knowledge and new therapy development for this wide variety of conditions. NACHO has 63 member institutions working together and with this additional year of funding they aim to keep growing so that children all over North America will have access to clinical trials that could save their lives.
Thank you for supporting the best research, no matter where it takes place, to help all kids with cancer survive and thrive.
The full list of institutions receiving grants:
- Alabama
- University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, Ala.
- St. Baldrick’s Scholar (continuing): Emily Johnston, M.D.
- University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, Ala.
- California
- University of California San Diego, San Diego, Calif.
- St. Baldrick’s Scholar (continuing): Lukas Chavez, Ph.D.
- St. Baldrick’s International Scholar: Jehad Almaliti, Ph.D.
- University of California San Diego, San Diego, Calif.
- Colorado
- University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, Aurora, Colo.
- St. Baldrick’s Scholar: Kelly Faulk, M.D.
- St. Baldrick’s International Scholar: Eman Elsabbagh, M.D., MSc
- University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, Aurora, Colo.
- Florida
- University of Florida, Gainesville, Fla.
- St. Baldrick’s Scholar (continuing): Lan Hoang-Minh Ph.D.
- University of Florida, Gainesville, Fla.
- Georgia
- Emory University School of Medicine Department of Pediatrics and Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, Atlanta, Ga.
- Illinois
- University of Chicago, Chicago, Ill.
- Pediatric Cancer Data Commons: Samuel Volchenboum M.D., Ph.D., M.S.
- University of Chicago, Chicago, Ill.
- Massachusetts
- Massachusetts General Hospital (Mass Gen), Boston, Mass.
- St. Baldrick’s Scholar: David Sykes, M.D., Ph.D.
- Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, Mass.
- St. Baldrick’s Scholar: John Prensner, M.D., Ph.D.
- Boston Children’s Hospital, Boston, Mass.
- St. Baldrick’s Scholar (continuing): Yangming Ou, Ph.D.
- Massachusetts General Hospital (Mass Gen), Boston, Mass.
- Maryland
- Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Md.
- St. Baldrick’s Scholar (continuing): Challice Bonifant M.D., Ph.D.
- National Cancer Institute, Center for Cancer Research, Pediatric Oncology Branch, Bethesda, Md.
- St. Baldrick’s Scholar (honor award, no funding associated with this grant): Rosa Nguyen, M.D., Ph.D.
- Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Md.
- Minnesota
- University of Minnesota School of Public Health, Minneapolis, Minn.
- St. Baldrick’s Scholar: Tianzhong Yang, Ph.D.
- St. Baldrick’s Scholar (continuing): Mark Osborn, Ph.D.
- University of Minnesota School of Public Health, Minneapolis, Minn.
- New York
- Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, N.Y.
- St. Baldrick’s Scholar: Claire Vanpouille-Box, Ph.D.
- Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, N.Y.
- Ohio
- The Research Institute at Nationwide Children’s Hospital, Columbus, Ohio
- St. Baldrick’s Scholar: Margot Lazow, M.D.
- St. Baldrick’s Scholar (continuing): Benjamin Stanton, Ph.D.
- The Research Institute at Nationwide Children’s Hospital, Columbus, Ohio
- Ontario, Canada
- The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids), Toronto, Ontario, Canada
- International Scholar (continuing): Anirban Das D.M., M.D.
- The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids), Toronto, Ontario, Canada
- Tennessee
- St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, Memphis, Tenn.
- St. Baldrick’s Scholar (continuing): Kelsey Bertrand, M.B.B.S.
- St. Baldrick’s Scholar (continuing): Paulina Velasquez, M.D.
- Consortium Research Grants
- St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, Memphis, Tenn.
The next set of grants will be announced in November, supported by donations between now and October. Visit the St. Baldrick’s grants page to learn more about all the research you’re making possible.
Donate now and help support research into better treatments for kids with cancer
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