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Based on the progress to date, Dr. Kuo was awarded a new grant in 2025 to fund an additional year of this Fellow grant.

Ewing sarcoma (EwS) is a malignant cancer of bone and soft tissues that occurs mainly in children, adolescents and young adults. If the tumors spread, fewer than 1/3 will survive. For some pediatric cancers, recent progress has led to new treatments that use one's own immune system to target cancer cells. However, immunotherapy has not been successful for EwS because we don't know enough about how EwS tumor cells evade the immune system. The tumor microenvironment (TME) is an intricate ecosystem consists of cancer cells and the host's immune system. Dr. Kuo's project will focus on dissecting the TME of EwS, to understand how tumors develop. Using EwS tumors removed from pediatric patients during their cancer diagnosis and treatment, Dr. Kuo will use newly-developed techniques to map the TME and use a genetic model of EwS developed at CHLA to examine tumor/immune cell interactions in living tissue. The long-term goal of this work is to identify new treatment options for children with EwS.

Years 1 and 2 of this grant are funded by and named for The Shohet Family Fund for Ewing Sarcoma Research. In his freshman year of college, Noah was diagnosed with Ewing sarcoma. He endured many months of chemotherapy and had limb salvage surgery. Able to return to school, Noah had no evidence of disease for 2½ years until April 2018 when routine scans revealed he had relapsed. He passed away in May 2021 at the age of 25. Noah and his family were always passionate about the need for curative treatments for diseases of the AYA population. The Shohet family intends to raise funds for this Hero Fund in Noah's memory to find cures for Ewing sarcoma and to carry on his legacy of possibilities and hope.

Year 3 of this grant is made possible through funding from D-Feet Cancer, The Dalton Fox Foundation and named in memory of Dalton, who is the inspiration for the Foundation that is lovingly led by his parents and sister. Dalton loved to tell good jokes and had a contagious sense of humor that lit up any room he walked into. Even on his worst days, he inspired his community and family with his positive outlook. He loved baseball, swimming, fishing and watching Marvel movies and while his time here was much too short, his memory continues to motivate so many. The Foundation is focused on fueling more research for Ewing sarcoma.

This grant supports a Clinical Research Associate for the cancer genetics clinic, to ensure that more kids can be treated on clinical trials, often their best hope for a cure.