Grants Search Results

Dr. MacDonald and colleagues have developed a new test that detects cancer cells in the blood and other fluids of patients with brain tumors. They have discovered that children with a particular type of brain tumor often have cancer cells in their blood. They can also use their test to follow how treatment changes the number of cancer cells in the blood to find out if the treatment being given is working to kill all the remaining cancer cells in the brain. This is the first time such a test has been able to do this using a simple blood draw. Dr. MacDonald and colleagues will use their test for children with other types of brain tumors. Dr. MacDonald and team will study the cancer cells in the blood to see why and how these brain cancer cells are still alive after treatment. This will help to identify the "steps" in which the cancer cells take to avoid being killed by the treatments being given and ultimately will then lead to new treatments targeting these steps to cure childhood brain tumors.

This grant funds an undergraduate student to complete work in pediatric oncology research for the summer. The St. Baldrick's Foundation Summer Fellow in the Goldsmith Laboratory at Emory University is working to develop new cell-based immunotherapies for neuroblastoma. They work alongside a team of researchers seeking to apply the unique properties of gamma delta T cells as an effective, off-the-shelf adoptive cell therapy for children with neuroblastoma. During the summer fellowship with St. Baldrick's Foundation, the student will investigate the expansion and anti-neuroblastoma activity of a specific type of gamma delta T cell called the VD1 subset. This work is being completed under the mentorship of Dr. Kelly Goldsmith.

Allogeneic cell therapy is a new approach to cancer treatment that harnesses living cells from healthy donors to fight tumors. To do so, immune cells are isolated from blood and incubated outside the body to expand subsets capable of killing cancer. Dr. Jonus and colleagues have shown that gamma delta (gd) T cells expanded from healthy adults help to eradicate neuroblastoma grown in models. Based on this,Dr. Jonus and team are performing a first-in-child clinical trial of gd T cells for patients with neuroblastoma. Going forward, Dr. Jonus's findings show an opportunity to make gd T cell therapy more effective by expanding a new type of gd T cell, Vd1, with unique properties that should improve both the cell therapy's fitness and its ability to infiltrate into solid tumors. In parallel for a potent second-generation therapy, Dr. Jonus will engineer Vd1 gd T cells to 1) express receptors that help them better recognize neuroblastoma and 2) evade immune recognition so that the therapy is not killed after being infused into a patient.

The first year of this grant is funded by and named for the Oliver Wells Fund for Neuroblastoma, a St. Baldrick's Hero Fund. From the moment he was born, Ollie was the center of the Wells family with a contagious smile and a sparkle in his eyes. As the youngest child, it was devastating when they learned the 15 year old toddler had cancer. Oliver was diagnosed with high risk neuroblastoma and spent the next 13 months bravely enduring chemotherapy and radiation, more than a dozen surgeries and a bone marrow transplant. But Ollie persevered and smiled through it all. It was an unfair fight from the beginning and in July 2018, Ollie passed away. The Oliver Wells Fund for Neuroblastoma was established in his memory to raise funds to find cures and give hope to other kids facing the same fight. In this way, the Wells family intends to share Oliver’s joy for life and use his story to help find a cure.

This institution is a member of a research consortium which is being funded by St. Baldrick's: Cellular and Immunological Approaches to Prevent Relapse: Pediatric Blood and Marrow Transplant Consortium (PBMTC). For a description of this project, see the consortium grant made to the lead institution: National Marrow Donor Program, Minneapolis, MN.

Leukemia, a cancer of the blood and bone marrow, is the most common cancer in kids. Over the last 60 years, great strides have been made in treating children with leukemia, and today, most leukemias are curable. However, certain leukemias are difficult to treat and have a poor prognosis. In order to better treat cancers, researchers seek to better understand the pathways by which cancer cells develop in order to identify medicines that target proteins in these pathways. Dr. Aumann and colleagues study the fusion protein CALM-AF10 which is found in some leukemias, and found that these leukemias have increased expression of a protein called SIX1. Dr. Aumann is studying how the SIX1 protein makes blood cells turn into leukemia cells, and is using two small molecule inhibitors in combination with other chemotherapy as potential new treatments for this and other leukemias. The hope is that the these studies will clarify the role of SIX1 in CALM-AF10 and other leukemias.

This institution is a member of a research consortium which is being funded by St. Baldrick's: Precision–based Therapy for Childhood Leukemia. For a description of this project, see the consortium grant made to the lead institution: Dana–Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, MA.

This institution is a member of a research consortium which is being funded by St. Baldrick's: New Approaches to Neuroblastoma Therapy (NANT) Consortium. For a description of this project, see the consortium grant made to the lead institution: Children's Hospital Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA.

This grant supports a data manager who will help ensure clinical trial data is complete, timely, and of the highest quality. This will allow the clinical research coordinators to focus on enrolling patients, ensuring more children have access to the most cutting edge treatments, often their best hope for a cure.

High-risk neuroblastoma is a very aggressive childhood solid tumor and approximately only half of patients with high-risk neuroblastoma survive. Dr. Goldsmith will be evaluating biomarkers of an antibody drug targeting GD2 and chemo-immunotherapy in three active clinical trials within the Children’s Oncology Group. Performing the same biologic correlative assays across three trials will not only answer key clinical questions regarding GD2 targeted therapy response in patients at different stages of treatment, but also provide an unprecedented opportunity to evaluate novel biomarkers that may guide treatment for future patients. Dr. Goldsmith hypothesizes that rational selection of therapy based on results of validated biomarker studies will improve the care of children with newly diagnosed high-risk neuroblastoma, thereby reducing the number of children who relapse and reducing the burden of acute and late effects of therapy. This grant is funded through a partnership between the St. Baldrick’s Foundation and the American Cancer Society.

The human immune system is astonishing in its ability to eliminate cells and organisms that give rise to disease. This process of immune surveillance is one of the last lines of defense that protect both adults and children from cancer; however, researchers have found that dysfunctional immune responses can permit cancerous leukemia cells to grow uncontrollably in the body. In this work, Dr. Dreaden will improve upon a drug that attempts to restore immune elimination to leukemia by redirecting a subset of immune cells, so-called T cells, to bind with and kill cancerous cells. By tethering such drugs with molecules that stimulate T cells to multiply, and possibly enable these cells to recognize leukemia cells again at a much later date, he aims to further improve both the strength and durability of responses to this promising class of immuno-therapy. Already, Dr. Dreaden and colleagues have made and screened more than 45 of these unique, multi-functional therapies and aim here to study the precise mechanics by these drugs act on immune cells, as well as their ability to impart memory-like immune responses to leukemia. Given the modular nature of this treatment approach, it could be rapidly extended to a range of other cancer cells, immune cells, and immune stimulating factors in the future.

Cancer remains the leading cause of illness-related death in children. Researchers now know that inherited genetic abnormalities contribute to cause cancer in many more children than previously understood. Children with Cancer Predisposition Syndromes (CPS) have a high risk of cancer, and we have a unique opportunity to prevent or detect cancer at early stages to improve their survival, as well as to better understand mechanisms of cancer development for all pediatric tumors. However, these CPS are rare and difficult to study in individual institutions. Thus, the Consortium for Childhood Cancer Predisposition was created, through which researchers aim to better understand the tumor risks in these patients and their distinct biology. Also, they will study surveillance and prevention strategies efficiently, by utilizing coordinated efforts to collect data and samples from patients with CPS (through a registry and biorepository). The Consortium currently comprises seven institutions, is led by experts who have already collaborated to have major impacts in this field, and has engaged syndrome specific advocacy groups to accelerate patient-centered advances. The impact of this Consortium will be improved outcomes for children at highest risk of cancer through better identification, early tumor detection, optimized psychosocial support and cancer prevention. Funds administered by Emory University.

This institution is a member of a research consortium which is being funded by St. Baldrick's: North American Consortium for Histiocytosis (NACHO). For a description of this project, see the consortium grant made to the lead institution: St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Memphis, TN.

This institution is a member of a research consortium which is being funded by St. Baldrick's: North American Consortium for Histiocytosis (NACHO). For a description of this project, see the consortium grant made to the lead institution: St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Memphis, TN.

This institution is a member of a research consortium which is being funded by St. Baldrick's: Consortium for Childhood Cancer Predisposition. For a description of this project, see the consortium grant made to the lead institution: Emory University, Atlanta, GA.

This institution is a member of a research consortium which is being funded by St. Baldrick's: North American Consortium for Histiocytosis (NACHO). For a description of this project, see the consortium grant made to the lead institution: St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Memphis, TN.

Childhood cancer remains the leading cause of illness-related death in children. We now know that inherited genetic abnormalities contribute to cause cancer in many more children than previously understood. Children with Cancer Predisposition Syndromes (CPS) have a high risk of cancer, and we have a unique opportunity to prevent or detect cancer at early stages to improve their survival, as well as to better understand mechanisms of cancer development for all pediatric tumors. However, these CPS are rare and difficult to study in individual institutions. Thus, the creation of the Consortium for Childhood Cancer Predisposition, through which we will study surveillance and prevention strategies efficiently, by utilizing coordinated efforts to collect data and samples from patients with a CPS (creating a registry and biorepository). The Consortium will initially be composed of seven institutions and led by individuals who have already worked together to have significant impacts in this field, and will engage syndrome-specific advocacy groups to accelerate patient-centered advances. We expect that the impact of this Consortium will be improved outcomes for those at the highest risk of cancer through better identification, early tumor detection, optimized psychosocial support and cancer prevention. Funds administered by Emory University.

Juvenile myelomonocytic leukemia (JMML), a fatal childhood blood malignancy, has limited therapeutic options. Relapse remains the main cause of treatment failure, most likely due to the persistence of leukemic stem cells (LSCs), a small population of self-renewing precursor cells that give rise to the bulk of tumor cells. Dr. Qu is exploring an innovative approach to eradicating LSCs in a subset of JMML that is caused by genetic mutations in Ptpn11. The information gathered from this study may yield a novel strategy for the treatment of this particular type of JMML.

Based on progress to date, Dr. Summers was awarded a new grant in 2020 to fund an additional year of this Fellow award. Early T-precursor ALL (ETP-ALL) is a type of leukemia that is often difficult to treat with currently available chemotherapy. As a result, children with ETP-ALL have high rates of relapse of their leukemia and poorer survival rates than children with other types of ALL, and require more treatment with chemotherapy, often leading to long-term toxic side effects. For these reasons, new treatments for ETP-ALL are needed. MERTK is a protein that is found on the surface of some leukemia cells, including ETP-ALLs. Recently, Dr. Summers and colleagues developed a new medicine that has few toxic side-effects and can be used to kill leukemia cells that have MERTK on their surface. Funded as the Emily Beazley's Kures for Kids Fund St. Baldrick's Fellow, this grant will allow him to test whether and how this new medicine could be used to more effectively treat children with ETP-ALL, leading to improved outcomes and better quality of life.

At the age of 8, Emily was diagnosed with Stage III T-cell lymphoblastic non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma and battled through three relapses. Her family prayed for a miracle but discovered Emily herself was the miracle, inspiring a community to come together to show love and change lives. She had a dream of starting a foundation to fund research and named it “Kures for Kids”. Today, Emily's family and friends carry on her dream and her mission in her memory.

This grant supports a clinical research protocol writer to ensure that more kids can be treated on clinical trials, often their best hope for a cure.

Memorial Health University Medical Center has developed a dedicated Adolescent and young adult (AYA) cancer program to provide better care and to encourage participation of these patients in clinical trials that will ultimately lead to better treatment outcomes.This grant supports a Clinical Oncology Social Worker to support the AYA Cancer Program and ensure that more AYA patients can be treated on clinical trials, often their best hope for a cure.