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In the new era of personalized medicine, Ewing sarcoma still relies on decades-old chemotherapy options, where aggressive treatments are met with poor disease outcomes. Ewing sarcoma is a devastating disease that affects children and young adults age 5-16. Based on treatment outcome and patient qualities of life, Ewing sarcoma is in desperate need of research and development of new therapeutic options. One of the key observations of Ewing sarcoma made back in the 1930s is the accumulation of a large amount of glycogen. Glycogen is a sugar molecule that our body uses to store energy; only specific organs such as the liver and muscle are capable of producing glycogen. The ability of Ewing sarcoma tumors to store large amount of glycogen has been forgotten until now. Dr. Sun aims to understand the reason behind large glycogen accumulation in Ewing sarcoma and exploit the glycogen deposits as a possible drug target for the treatment of Ewing sarcoma. The successful completion of this project will bring new hope to this century-old disease and facilitate the development of the next generation of novel therapeutics specifically for Ewing sarcoma.

A portion of this grant is funded by and named for Julia's Legacy of Hope, a St. Baldrick's Hero Fund that honors her positive and courageous spirit and carries out Julia's last wish: "no child should have to go through what I have experienced". Diagnosed at age 16 with Ewing sarcoma, Julia fought cancer and survived only to be stricken in college with acute myeloid leukemia, a secondary cancer as a result of treatment. Through this Hero Fund, her family hopes to raise awareness and funds for childhood cancer research especially for Adolescent and Young Adult (AYA) patients.