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Dr. Shen will develop a new immune-based approach to treat diffuse midline glioma, a deadly childhood brain tumor with very limited treatment options. Dr. Shen and colleagues' work will focus on helping the body's natural killer immune cells better recognize and destroy tumor cells while sparing healthy brain tissue. Dr. Shen will test whether standard radiation therapy can make tumor cells more visible to these immune cells, thus improving treatment effectiveness and safety. Dr Shen's research will lay the groundwork for a more precise and less toxic therapy for children with this devastating disease.

This grant is funded by and named for Luke's Army Pediatric Cancer Research Fund. This Hero Fund was created in memory of Luke Ungerer who brought smiles and sunshine wherever he went with plenty to share with everyone. He battled a brain tumor with a positive spirit and inspired others with his courage in his short life. This fund intends to carry on Luke’s legacy of positivity with the hope that it will ripple across many lives for many years to come.

Rhabdomyosarcoma is the most common cancer that originates in the soft tissue of the body in children. There are two subtypes, embryonal (ERMS) and alveolar (ARMS), and children with ARMS have poorer response to conventional chemotherapy and radiation therapy, and much lower survival rates than those with ERMS. This research aims to discover chemical inhibitors of a gene called PAX3-FKHR and how "knocking down" that gene may help patients respond better to chemotherapy.The goal of this project is to establish a new approach for developing drugs to effectively treat ARMS.