Grants Search Results

Based on progress to date, Dr. Pinto, was awarded a new grant in 2016 to fund an additional year of this Scholar award. Prior to his 2015 relocation to Seattle, Dr. Pinto was the FOX Schools Challenge St. Baldrick's Scholar. He studies neuroblastoma, a childhood cancer of the nervous system. Factors such as patient age, extent of tumor spread, and tumor genetics are used to identify patients at highest risk of relapse, and these patients receive the most aggressive treatment. Despite this, more than half of these high-risk patients will die of disease. This project is using patient genetics to identify children that may be resistant to chemotherapy, allowing researchers to further refine the risk stratification and alter therapy for those patients at highest risk of relapse, to ultimately cure more children of this devastating disease. Awarded at the University of Chicago and transferred to Seattle Children's Hospital.

A portion of this grant was named for the FOX Schools Challenge, created in 2007 when Chicago area schools and students began to rally around the mission to Conquer Childhood Cancers, inspiring more than 15,000 people to shave and raising more than $5 million for childhood cancer research through the St. Baldrick's Foundation.

Filemon Dela Cruz, M.D., NetApp St. Baldrick's Scholar, studies ewing sarcoma, a common cancer of the bone and tissues in children. Despite our best therapies, less than 20% of children with widespread disease will survive. Dr. Dela Cruz's lab recently developed a model of Ewing sarcoma that has been genetically altered to mimic the early stages of this disease. This project aims to use this model to identify the biologic steps that went wrong in a cell to create Ewing's sarcoma, so that researchers can devise ways to correct and prevent these mistakes from ever occurring.

This grant is named for the NetApp team, whose employees around the world have raised more than $3 million for lifesaving research through the St. Baldrick's Foundation.

Based on progress to date, Dr. Mulcahy Levy, was awarded a new grant in 2016 to fund an additional year of this Scholar award. Jean Mulcahy Levy, M.D., elope, Inc. St. Baldrick's Scholar Award, studies autophagy, a multi-step process that cancer can use to survive. It is possible to block this survival mechanism and hopefully make cancer easier to kill with other treatments like radiation and chemotherapy. This project has three goals to improve survival of children with brain tumors. First, to find which step of the process should be blocked to kill the most tumor cells. Second, to find which brain tumors depend most on autophagy to survive. And finally, to determine if a specific genetic mutation found in some pediatric brain tumors can identify patients who will most benefit from autophagy directed treatments.

This grant is named for elope, Inc., for its generous and faithful support of St. Baldrick's. The company has donated its popular green leprechaun hats and other whimsical attire to St. Baldrick's fundraising events, and the company's event has raised more than $1 million to fund lifesaving research.

Based on progress to date, Dr. Curran, was awarded a new grant in 2016 to fund an additional year of this Scholar award. Our body can fight off infections using the immune system. This is why we feel better a few days after catching a cold. Our body can fight cancer in the same way, and the goal of Kevin Curran, M.D., AVM Traders St. Baldrick's Scholar's research is to teach the body to do that. This project aims to modify the immune system through gene therapy to create "cancer assassins" that target cancer cells. Ultimately, this method of cancer treatment may eliminate cancer without the side effects of current treatments such as chemotherapy (drugs) or radiation (x-rays).

This grant is named for AVM Traders, a company that has raised more than $1 million for childhood cancer research through the St. Baldrick's Foundation.

Based on progress to date, Dr. Vanan, was awarded a new grant in 2016 to fund an additional year of this Scholar award. Issai Vanan, M.D., M.P.H., studies medulloblastoma, the most common malignant brain tumor in children. High-risk medulloblastoma patients have low disease-free survival. Radiotherapy used in its treatment has significant long-term side-effects and new therapeutic strategies are needed that will minimize these side effects. The goals of this project are to validate and study the clinical importance of genes that may play a role in radiation resistance of medulloblastomas. Dr. Vanan hopes to identify new therapeutic targets/drugs that are therapeutic while using much lower doses of radiation, thereby reducing the negative side effects of radiotherapy. A portion of the grant was named in loving memory of Fr. Peter J. McKenna, beloved brother of former St. Baldrick's board member John McKenna, and in honor of John's incredible dedication and service. Awarded at The Feinstein Institute for Medical Research and transferred to CancerCare Manitoba.

High levels of the receptor for a specific growth factor have been linked to a type of leukemia where children have a poor survival rate. This project studies the role of the growth factor that stimulates this receptor in the progression of leukemia. Understanding the contribution of the growth factor and its receptor to disease will help researchers develop drugs that can target these molecules and increase survival in children with leukemia.

Despite major improvement in outcomes for children and older adults with cancer over the past three decades, there has been little or no improvement in survival among adolescent and young adult (AYA) cancer patients (ages 15-39 years). The reasons for this disparity are not completely understood and likely include many factors, including differences in tumor biology, insurance coverage, clinical trial participation and adherence to treatment. This research aims to produce detailed information about the factors affecting AYA cancer incidence and survival that will help doctors target care and close this gap. The project will also produce detailed information for local cancer care service providers on where to target their efforts, and information that will help clinicians recruit AYA patients most in need of help to clinical trials to address their needs.

Even though more and more children are being cured of cancer, the treatment can cause major life-long health problems for survivors. Unfortunately, most adult survivors don't seek appropriate medical care to monitor and care for these problems. This project is to study whether or not adult survivors referred to adult-focused follow-up care actually engage in such care and what might get in the way of doing so. The results of the study will help medical providers better prepare young adult survivors to engage in adult-focused follow-up care to assure that they stay as healthy as possible.

Although most children with leukemia can be cured, chemotherapy frequently causes permanent brain dysfunction in survivors. With previous support from St. Baldricks, Dr. Cole's lab identified promising protective interventions, and he will now test them among those children at greatest risk for brain damage. To identify this population researchers are studying whether variation in neurocognitive function among leukemia survivors is related to specific inherited differences in genes related to repair mechanisms or to metabolism of drugs thought to cause cognitive deficits.

Rhabdomyosarcoma is the most common pediatric soft tissue sarcoma. The two main subtypes, embryonal and alveolar, are defined by their appearance under the microscope. However, identification of a unique gene mutation in alveolar rhabdomyosarcoma identifies a subgroup with worse prognosis. Future studies may use this gene mutation rather than microscopic appearance to determine risk stratification and treatment, but before instituting this strategy researchers must confirm the role of fusion status in low-risk and metastatic rhabdomyosarcoma. This consortium is examining low-risk and high-risk clinical trials of the COG (Children's Oncology Group) to confirm the importance of fusion status in determining treatment for patients with rhabdomyosarcoma. Awarded at Oregon Health & Science University and transferred to Seattle Children's Hospital.

This institution is a member of a research consortium which is being funded by St. Baldrick's: Prognostic significance of gene fusion in low or high risk rhabdomyosarcoma. For a description of this project, see the consortium grant made to the lead institution: Seattle Children's Hospital, Seattle, WA.

This institution is a member of a research consortium which is being funded by St. Baldrick's: Prognostic significance of gene fusion in low or high risk rhabdomyosarcoma. For a description of this project, see the consortium grant made to the lead institution: Seattle Children's Hospital, Seattle, WA.

This institution is a member of a research consortium which is being funded by St. Baldrick's: Prognostic significance of gene fusion in low or high risk rhabdomyosarcoma. For a description of this project, see the consortium grant made to the lead institution: Seattle Children's Hospital, Seattle, WA.

This institution is a member of a research consortium which is being funded by St. Baldrick's: Prognostic significance of gene fusion in low or high risk rhabdomyosarcoma. For a description of this project, see the consortium grant made to the lead institution: Seattle Children's Hospital, Seattle, WA.

This institution is a member of a research consortium which is being funded by St. Baldrick's: Prognostic significance of gene fusion in low or high risk rhabdomyosarcoma. For a description of this project, see the consortium grant made to the lead institution: Seattle Children's Hospital, Seattle, WA.

Based on progress to date, Dr. Davis was awarded a new grant in 2014 to fund an optional third year of this fellowship. Cancer affects teenagers and young adults more often than young children, but these in-between aged people have lower survival rates than yonger children. There aren't many doctors that specialize in treating these patients, but that is exactly what Dr. Davis is training to do. As part of this training, she is studying a bone cancer that occurs in teens. This same cancer affects pet dogs, too. She is testing drugs in a lab to see which ones kill the most tumor cells and then investigatimg why they work, in hopes that it will help both kids and dogs with this tumor live longer.

Adaptive cell therapy involves engineering the body's own immune cells, called T-cells, to fight cancer. The T-cells are engineered to target a protein which is present only in the cancer cells, but not in normal cells. One such protein, WT-1 is expressed only in leukemia cells and has proven to be an effective target, for a specific type of T cells called CD8 T-cells. However, these CD8 T-cells do not persist and leukemias recur. Dr. Anur Praveen, PartnerRe St. Baldrick's Fellow, is studying whether another type of T-cells called CD4 T-cells alone can eradicate leukemia or these CD4 T cells can help the CD8 T-cells to last longer and fight leukemia without recurrence. This grant is named for PartnerRe, a global reinsurance company who has raised over $1 million to fund childhood cancer research through the St. Baldrick’s Foundation.

This grant funded a Clinical Research Associate to ensure that more kids can be treated on clinical trials, their best hope for a cure, at this institution.

This grant helps provide staffing to ensure that more kids can be treated on clinical trials, their best hope for a cure, at this institution.

This grant helps provide necessary resources to ensure that more kids can be treated on clinical trials, their best hope for a cure, at this institution.