Grants Search Results

Based on progress to date, Dr. Norris was awarded new grants in 2016 and 2018 to fund additional years of this Scholar award. More than 70% of children diagnosed with cancer are cured of their disease, but today's therapies can have severe and life-long side effects, and too many children die from cancer. Cyclin dependent kinase-5 (Cdk5) inhibitors are a new type of therapy with the potential to treat childhood cancer. Dr. Norris, the Rebecca Alison Meyer Fund for Pediatric Cancer Research St. Baldrick’s Scholar, uses laboratory and computer models to determine how to optimize therapy with Cdk5 inhibitors, and how to combine Cdk5 inhibitors with current cancer treatments. Using this information, Dr. Norris studies Cdk5 inhibitors in adolescents with relapsed cancer, with the goal of developing new treatments for children with cancer.

A portion of this grant is named for The Rebecca Alison Meyer Fund for Pediatric Cancer Research created to honor the memory of the joyful and spunky little girl who courageously battled brain cancer. Rebecca’s legacy lives on in the funding of promising glioblastoma research. Awarded at Rainbow Babies and Children's Hospital and transferred to Cincinnati Children's Hospital.

Based on progress to date, Dr. Barth was awarded new grants in 2016 and 2017 to fund additional years of this Scholar award. Children with B-cell non-Hodgkins lymphoma (B-NHL) whose disease is resistant to initial therapies have a dismal outcome. As the Do It For Dominic St. Baldrick's Scholar, Dr. Barth and his team have identified alterations in lymphoma cells that contribute to therapy resistance. This study investigates the ability to reverse or overcome resistance by targeting these altered pathways using targeted inhibitors. By inhibiting these pathways, he hopes to kill resistant lymphoma cells or re-sensitize resistant cells to traditional chemotherapy, potentially providing new future treatment options for patients with an otherwise poor prognosis.

This grant is named for the Do It for Dominic Fund which honors the memory of Dominic Cairo who battled non-Hodgkins lymphoma and was a hero to his school and community. His family and friends continue to raise funds and support research in the hopes that no child has to go through what Dominic endured.

Based on progress to date, Dr. Crompton was awarded new grants in 2016 and 2017 to fund additional years of this Scholar award. Ewing sarcoma is an aggressive bone tumor affecting adolescents and young adults. Current treatment regimens fail to improve outcomes for patients with high-risk disease, and new therapeutic approaches are needed. Dr. Crompton's team recently identified a protein that is highly active in Ewing sarcoma and is targeted by drugs in clinical development. Dr. Crompton, the Team Clarkie Fund St. Baldrick’s Scholar, aims to demonstrate that these inhibitors warrant testing in clinical trials for patients with Ewing sarcoma, define the clinical indications for their use, and identify the most effective treatment combinations. Lastly, the project will develop a new screening effort to identify additional drug targets in Ewing sarcoma.

A portion of this grant is named for the Team Clarkie Fund created to honor Clarkie Carroll and fund Ewing’s sarcoma research while stimulating greater awareness and inspiring others to believe pediatric cancer research can and will lead to a cure.

Based on progress to date, Dr. Maude was awarded new grants in 2016 and 2017 to fund additional years of this Scholar award. Acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), a cancer of white blood cells, is the most common childhood cancer. Fortunately, most children with ALL are cured; however, 10-20% of children are not cured with standard chemotherapy. Recently, genetic tests identified abnormalities that may cause two types of ALL with poor survival rates. Dr. Maude's lab developed models of these leukemias to ask if new medicines that work specifically on the abnormal genes can improve the chance for cure. Dr. Maude, the Rally for Ryan Fund St. Baldrick's Scholar, hopes that these studies will find new treatments for these difficult to treat leukemias, giving these children a new chance for cure.

This grant is named for the Rally for Ryan Fund. Ryan was diagnosed with high risk ALL when he was 7 years old. He endured 3 ½ years of often harsh treatments with smiles, laughter and a brave acceptance that this was his fight to win. And Ryan did prevail—he took his last chemo pill in January 2016 but sadly, relapsed later that year. He is currently in treatment and back in the fight. This fund honors Ryan’s commitment to help make a difference for kids with cancer by shaving for St. Baldrick’s and to raise funds for research.

Based on progress to date, Dr. Mizukawa was awarded new grants in 2016 and 2017 to fund additional years of this Scholar award. Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) arises from a subset of leukemia stem cells that are responsible for perpetuating the disease. Although most leukemia cells are readily killed by chemotherapy, if the leukemia stem cell escapes therapy, the child will eventually succumb to the disease. The leukemia stem cell has survival and self-renewal advantages provided by its supportive environment. The Cdc42 protein plays a central role in integrating environmental cues and promoting leukemia cell survival. Dr. Mizukawa is working to block Cdc42 and make the leukemia stem cell more sensitive to chemotherapy.

Based on progress to date, Dr. Rainusso was awarded new grants in 2016 and 2017 to fund additional years of this Scholar award. Dr. Rainusso’s work looks to identify and target the most malignant, most aggressive and most difficult-to-treat cancer cells in pediatric sarcomas. Dr. Rainusso, the Alan’s Sarcoma Research Fund St. Baldrick’s Scholar, is also testing if the patients’ body immune system can kill cancer cells in pediatric sarcomas.

A portion of this grant is named for the Alan’s Sarcoma Research Fund that was created in memory of Alan Sanders who was diagnosed with a rare sarcoma in his hip at 17 months. He had an indomitable spirit and through his 4 ½ year battle with cancer, he was joyful, upbeat and pressed on courageously through surgery and treatments. Fighting cancer was all Alan knew from an early age and his rallying cry became “Fight’s on!” Today his family and friends carry on his legacy in the fight against childhood cancer by funding sarcoma research.

Based on progress to date, Dr. Lubega was awarded new grants in 2016 and 2017 to fund additional years of this International Scholar award. A third of cancers in children in Africa are due to Burkitt's lymphoma. Burkitt's lymphoma seems to arise from the body's attempt to fight Epstein-Barr virus and malaria infections. This study measures infection-fighting proteins in children with and without Burkitt's lymphoma. The goal is to discover if these infection-fighting proteins in blood or saliva can be used as specific indicators of Burkitt's lymphoma. These proteins can be developed into clinical tests for early detection and monitoring treatment for children with cancer.

Based on progress to date, Dr. Fuentes Alabi was awarded new grants in 2016 and 2017 to fund additional years of this International Scholar award. The majority of children with cancer live in countries with limited resources and yet we know very little about the types of pediatric cancer and their distribution in those settings. Studies suggest that the incidence of some types of childhood cancer is not the same among different ethnic and socioeconomic groups. Epidemiology studies focused on those unique areas of the world are very important because they can help improve our overall understanding of childhood cancers. This project aims to build epidemiology research capacity in Central America through the training of Dr. Fuentes Alabi. Awarded at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and transferred to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.

The project involves creating a web application that will generate computerized tailored resilience profiles for adolescents and young adults with cancer (AYA) and their parents. The tailored resilience profiles will summarize meaningful of information regarding the AYAs' and parents' strengths and areas that could be improved. The overall goal is to give them information to help them achieve a sense of resilience during cancer treatment. Resilience means a person feels a sense of confidence and well-being in the midst of a life-threatening illness. Fostering resilience during the cancer experience leads to improve quality of life.

Nutrition experts recommend that pediatric cancer survivors eat more fruits, vegetables, and whole grain products, and to lead active lifestyles. However, studies suggest that childhood cancer survivors are at risk for excessive weight gain and poor fitness. Strategies to enhance the nutritional quality of diets and to promote physical activity among cancer survivors are greatly needed. This study assesses the feasibility of healthy lifestyle coaching by group televideo conferencing to encourage healthy lifestyle modifications.

Rhabdomyosarcoma (RMS) is the most common soft tissue sarcoma of childhood and some subtypes are highly aggressive and spread to different organs. Current treatment strategies include surgery, radiation and chemotherapy, and clinical trials combining these modalities still result in only 30% survival. Advances in cancer genome studies have identified several genetic changes that are crucial for aggressive tumor growth and spread of the disease. Some of these genetic changes result in display of specific proteins on the tumor cell surface. Development and preclinical evaluation of monoclonal antibodies against such tumor-specific molecules would open the door for a variety of targeted therapeutics and novel treatment options for these patients.      

T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (T-ALL) is an aggressive cancer that requires treatment with highly intensive chemotherapy. The prognosis of patients with relapsed and refractory (treatment resistant) T-ALL is very poor. Dr. Ferrando and his team have identified that specific mutations in the NT5C2 gene lead to chemotherapy resistance in 20% of relapse T-ALL cases. The goal of this research is to generate a model of chemotherapy resistance driven by mutant NT5C2 genes and utilize this model to develop new tailored therapies for the treatment of relapsed T-ALL.      

Hypodiploid acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), in which the leukemic cells have lost multiple chromosomes, is associated with poor outcome. Dr. Mullighan and his team identified multiple new gene mutations that have not previously been recognized in this disease. Dr. Mullighan is investigating the impact of the identified mutations on leukemia formation, and investigating therapeutic alternatives for this high-risk leukemia. PI was initially Dr. Linda Holmfeldt.

Human synovial sarcoma is uniformly driven by a precise genetic lesion (change to our heritable material, or DNA), which converts a normal protein into one that functions abnormally and promotes cancer development. This research aims to identify molecules which prevent this conversion and halt synovial sarcoma growth.

Alveolar rhabdomyosarcoma is an aggressive childhood cancer that often arises in muscle. It contains a DNA error which drives cells to divide when they shouldn't, resulting in cancer. Dr. Linardic has discovered one targetable protein that is controlled by this DNA error. Her work aims to understand how this protein and the DNA error associated with Alveolar Rhabdomyosarcoma are related, and whether the protein she discovered will be a useful drug target.

Although radiation is a known carcinogen whose effects are most pronounced in children, it is ubiquitous in modern life. By studying survivors of pediatric Hodgkin lymphoma, Dr. Onel's team discovered that genetic variants regulating one gene are both very common and strongly associated with increased risk for radiation-induced cancers. Dr. Onel and his team are working to determine how radiation activates this gene, how the gene directs the response to radiation, and how variants alter this response. Dr. Onel hopes that these results will lead to new ways to identify children at risk for radiation-induced cancers, or new drugs to prevent this devastating late effect of radiation exposure.

Medulloblastoma is the most common malignant brain tumor. There is an urgent need to develop novel therapies for children with medulloblastoma. Dr. Van Meir and his team are studying the importance of the loss of tumor suppressor BAI1 in medulloblastoma. Such new knowledge has the potential to reveal new ways to treat this disease.

Many currently used chemotherapeutic drugs have severe toxic side effects and a significant number of cancer patients do not respond well to chemotherapy. Thus, developing more effective and less harmful new anticancer drugs remains significant and challenging. Dr. Zhou's team has discovered several small molecule chemical compounds that are stronger to kill cancer cells, and less toxic to normal cells than currently used chemotherapeutic drugs. Dr. Zhou is studying the mechanism by which these compounds kill cancer but not normal human cells, and how to develop these compounds as effective and safe therapeutic drugs for treating refractory cancer patients.

Neuroblastoma is a common childhood cancer. Cancers happen because of mutations (mistakes) in the genetic code within them, and knowing which specific mutation happened in each particular cancer should help doctors improve their treatments. Dr. Hogarty's team discovered that some neuroblastomas have mutations in a specific gene, ARID1, and that these tumors are especially difficult to cure. Dr. Hogarty is studying this gene more since it determines how nerve cells behave, and neuroblastoma arises from mutated nerve cells. This may give us insight into new ways to treat neuroblastoma.

Recurrence of childhood Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML) is all too frequent after initially successful treatment. The underlying drug resistance is partly related to the protective role of the bone marrow microenvironment, where leukemia cells grow. Dr. Kurre's team has recently discovered that AML cells release small amounts of material in the bone marrow microenvironment that cause changes to promote leukemia progression. Dr. Kurre is working to better understand these changes and how these changes can reprogram the leukemia bone marrow to protect residual AML cells and lead to relapse.