Grants Search Results

Based on progress to date, Dr. Gowda was awarded a new grant in 2014 to fund an optional third year of this fellowship. This project studies the regulation of the function of the Ikaros protein. The loss of function of the Ikaros protein is associated with the development of acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) that does not respond well to current therapies. Dr. Gowda is studying the way that Ikaros prevents the development of leukemia and to explain why the loss Ikaros activity leads to the development of leukemia. Thus, the results of this project will give insight into the mechanism of leukemia development. The more researchers learn about the way a cell changes to a cancer cell, the easier it will be to find new and more effective treatment options for patients with childhood leukemia.

Based on progress to date, Dr. Knoechel was awarded a new grant in 2014 to fund an optional third year of this fellowship. Approximately 15% of children with leukemia have a form known as T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). Current chemotherapy initially works very well in this type of ALL, however many of these patients have a recurrence early in their treatment. There are factors that are known to add to the development of a cancer and how well drugs work against it. These factors are known as chromatin regulators. Birgit Knoechel, M.D., Ph.D., Porter Dowling St. Baldrick's Fellow, is studying a chromatin regulator, BRD4, and how effective it is in reducing the drug resistance in T-cell ALL. These findings, along with a newly developed inhibitor that specifically targets BRD4, may provide a new approach to the treatment of T-cell ALL. This grant is named for Porter Dowling, in recognition for raising more than $1.2 million for childhood cancer research through the St. Baldrick's Foundation.

Based on progress to date, Dr. Moses was awarded a new grant in 2014 to fund an optional third year of this fellowship. Salinomycin, an antibiotic used in agriculture, has recently been shown to be highly effective against cancer stem cells, which are the resistant cells that contribute to relapse. This project aims to determine whether this antibiotic, in combination with standard treatment, can be used to effectively treat childhood brain cancers that develop resistance to standard treatment. The knowledge generated from this study will provide a new concept for treatment of brain tumors to achieve tumor eradication and potentially cure. Awarded at the University of Texas HSC San Antonio and transferred to the University of Virginia.

This grant is made with generous support from the McKenna Claire Foundation established by the Wetzel family in memory of their daughter, McKenna. Their mission is to cure pediatric brain cancer by raising awareness, increasing community involvement and funding research.

Based on progress to date, Dr. Pinkney was awarded a new grant in 2014 to fund an optional third year of this fellowship. Kerice Pinkney, M.B.B.S., Gen Re St. Baldrick's Fellow, studies ATM, a protein that regulates the response of a cell when DNA is damaged. Mutation of ATM leads to increased breaks in DNA. This can then lead to chromosomal translocation, a process by which pieces of chromosomes are swapped. This can cause normal genes to combine together and lead to a new gene that can induce cancer. The goal of this project is to study how the protein ATM suppresses the translocation of chromosomes and therefore better understand the cause of pediatric cancers.

This grant is named for the General Reinsurance (Gen Re) team, which has raised more than $1 million to date for lifesaving research through the St. Baldrick's Foundation. Awarded at Columbia University and transferred to Joe DiMaggio Children's Hospital.

T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (T-ALL) makes up 15% of childhood leukemia. There is a protein inside the cancer cells of patients with T-ALL that helps the cancer cells grow. Dr. Richard aims to decrease the amount of this protein so it cannot stimulate the cancer cells to grow. This will help to develop better treatments for children with T-cell leukemia.

The concept of resilience implies an ability to withstand stress after a significant crisis. While there are several theories of resilience, there is little consensus about how to define it or, more importantly, how to promote it. Cancer in children and adolescents can pose daunting challenges for patients as well as their families. This study explores a novel model of resilience among adolescents and parents of children with cancer. Promoting resilience during and after childhood cancer will promote more positive psychosocial outcomes and ultimately enable better family-level survivorship.

Based on progress to date, Dr. Schultz was awarded a new grant in 2014 to fund an optional third year of this fellowship. Acute myeloid leukemia (AML), a subtype of pediatric leukemia, has poor long-term outcomes, making it important to develop new treatments. Markit St. Baldrick's Fellow Dr. Liora Schultz's research focuses on taking advantage of the immune system to fight cancer. Cancer cells often go unrecognized by the immune system, and Dr. Schultz aims to genetically engineer immune cells to recognize and destroy cancer cells, and ultimately translate this technique to the clinic to treat pediatric patients with AML. Awarded at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center and transferred to Stanford University.

This grant is named for Markit, Ltd., whose 24-hour head-shaving events worldwide have raised over $1 million to fund life-saving research through the St. Baldrick’s Foundation.

Based on progress to date, Dr. Davis was awarded a new grant in 2014 to fund an optional third year of this fellowship. Spread of tumor cells from their original site to distant areas (metastasis) is the most deadly aspect of cancer, and often occurs through lymphatic vessels. New vessels can grow around tumors to facilitate spread. To prevent this, we must understand why new vessels form, and the design that allows tumor cells to travel. Dr. Davis is studying etsrp, a protein believed to control lymphatic growth, which is therefore a novel therapeutic target for preventing metastasis in childhood cancer.

Based on progress to date, Dr. Wu was awarded a new grant in 2014 to fund an optional third year of this fellowship. Dr. Wu studies a kind of blood cancer called ALL (acute lymphoblastic leukemia), one of the most common types of childhood cancer. One of the main treatments for ALL is steroid therapy - not the steroids you take for bodybuilding, but the steroids you take if your asthma or your "bad back" is getting worse. This research is to understand why steroid treatment sometimes does not work in ALL. The main goal is to improve steroid treatment, to cure more patients.

This additional grant is named for Tap Cancer Out and recognizes the partnership with the jiu-jitsu based 501(c)(3) nonprofit who raises awareness and funds for cancer fighting organizations on behalf of the grappling community.

The original grant was named for Dr. Jeffrey Lipton in recognition of his tenure on the Board of Directors and in honor of his leadership, support and advocacy for childhood cancer research.

Based on progress to date, Dr. Davis was awarded a new grant in 2014 to fund an optional third year of this fellowship. Cancer affects teenagers and young adults more often than young children, but these in-between aged people have lower survival rates than yonger children. There aren't many doctors that specialize in treating these patients, but that is exactly what Dr. Davis is training to do. As part of this training, she is studying a bone cancer that occurs in teens. This same cancer affects pet dogs, too. She is testing drugs in a lab to see which ones kill the most tumor cells and then investigatimg why they work, in hopes that it will help both kids and dogs with this tumor live longer.

Adaptive cell therapy involves engineering the body's own immune cells, called T-cells, to fight cancer. The T-cells are engineered to target a protein which is present only in the cancer cells, but not in normal cells. One such protein, WT-1 is expressed only in leukemia cells and has proven to be an effective target, for a specific type of T cells called CD8 T-cells. However, these CD8 T-cells do not persist and leukemias recur. Dr. Anur Praveen, PartnerRe St. Baldrick's Fellow, is studying whether another type of T-cells called CD4 T-cells alone can eradicate leukemia or these CD4 T cells can help the CD8 T-cells to last longer and fight leukemia without recurrence. This grant is named for PartnerRe, a global reinsurance company who has raised over $1 million to fund childhood cancer research through the St. Baldrick’s Foundation.

Based on progress to date, Dr. Batra was awarded a new grant in 2013 to fund an optional third year of this fellowship. Neuroblastoma (NB) is a cancer that affects children and infants and cure rates are 40-50% range for high-risk NB. Fortunately, this disease is exquisitely sensitive to radiation. MIBG, a compound similar to adrenaline, has been shown to be effective for treating bulk disease, but is not able to destroy cancer cells that are widely distributed. This project focuses on an innovative method to circumvent this problem by designing an "alpha-emitting" radioisotope called 211At MABG. Alpha particles, which have been much more difficult to design as medicines, have the major advantage of much higher radiation energy and a much shorter range of action, so that they will kill the cells that take it up. This will be a major milestone in neuroblastoma therapy and provide a novel targeted radiotherapeutic approach to pediatric cancer.

To treat cancer effectively we must first understand why cancer develops. The body is constantly producing cells which make up our tissues. Often, when a cell develops chromosomal damage, the cell is fixed by multiple proteins referred to as the DNA Damage Response (DDR), or the cell is eliminated through a process called apoptosis. Unfortunately, some damaged cells escape these processes because the DDR does not work properly, and they go on to divide and form cancer. This project focuses on understanding one aspect of the DDR, a protein called SMARCAL1, to gain insight into why normal cells become genetically unstable and cancerous, and to uncover proteins and pathways that might serve as novel targets for cancer drugs, to help eventually eradicate of childhood cancer. 

Based on progress to date, Dr. Chang was awarded a new grant in 2013 to fund an optional third year of this fellowship. Children with Neurofibromatosis Type 1 (NF1) are strongly predisposed to Juvenile Myelomonocytic Leukemia (JMML), a relentless form of cancer. Only 50% of children with JMML survive beyond 5 years, and hematopoietic stem cell transplantation currently offers the only potential for cure, although transplant-related mortality is high. Therapies targeted to specific molecular abnormalities in JMML may offer a better alternative. Ras is a protein involved in normal cellular growth as well as malignant transformation. Understanding the therapeutic effects of inhibiting Ras effector pathways will inform novel treatment strategies.

Pediatric palliative care is a comprehensive system of care aimed at preventing or relieving symptoms and suffering caused by a life-threatening illness. At the end of life, hospice is an important provider of palliative care. The goal of this study is to identify factors that are associated with hospice use in pediatric oncology, about which little is known. Although cure rates have dramatically increased in pediatric cancer, palliative care and hospice are an integral part of caring for the patients who do not survive. A better understanding of why parents and patients choose hospice can help improve the care of pediatric oncology patients at the end of life.

A growing tumor requires a blood supply, and in some tumors, such as neuroblastoma, the number of blood vessels in a tumor correlates with metastases and mortality. The formation of new blood vessels is called angiogenesis. Anti-angiogenic drugs designed to stop these blood vessels from forming have proved disappointing, so far. The lab in which Dr. Elster is working has identified one reason for this. In this project, known pharmacologically active compounds are screened to find what may be the backbone for the next class of anti-angiogenic drugs.

Several recent studies have identified point mutations IDH1 and IDH2 in gliomas. IDH are key enzymes involved in cell metabolism. These mutations occur frequently (50-93%) in diffusely infiltrating astrocytomas and oligodendrogliomas, as well as in some glioblastomas. These studies suggest that IDH1 mutations are an early event in the formation of specific types of diffusely infiltrating gliomas, and this project uses a virus to deliver genes to determine if mutant IDH1 can induce brain tumors in models.  

Neuroblastoma is the second most common solid cancer in childhood. Half of patients are at an advanced stage at diagnosis, difficult to treat successfully even with aggressive therapy. Ferritin is the body's storage form of iron, and elevated levels have been linked to worse outcomes in patients with neuroblastoma, but this phenomenon is still poorly understood. This research is investigating how genetic mutations in HFE, the gene responsible for the iron overload disorder, promote the development and spread of neuroblastoma cells. By identifying which specific iron metabolism pathways are involved, we can come up with new therapeutic strategies that are more specific and less toxic.

Neuroblastoma can range from spontaneous regression to relentless progression. Clinical and biological prognostic factors are used to classify patients as low-, intermediate-, or high-risk of relapse, to determine the intensity of treatment necessary. Recently, several investigators have published "genetic signatures" that correlate with outcome in children with high-risk neuroblastoma in retrospective studies, but due to expense, timing and availability, these signatures are not currently used. This project aims to circumvent these limitations, improving the care of the 40% of high-risk patients who are destined to fail current therapies. Awarded at The University of Chicago and transferred to Dana-Farber Cancer Research Institute. 

Significant challenges remain in the treatment of leukemia that has infiltrated into the central nervous system (CNS). The CNS serves as a sanctuary site for leukemic cells which can relapse and spread to other organs. In particular, T-cell ALL, a sub-type of acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), has a strong propensity to infiltrate the CNS. Dr. Othman's research focuses on a recently identified target protein, CDK5, which has been implicated in the migration of immune cells. These potentially paradigm-shifting investigations promise the development of new biological agents or immune-mediated therapies against CNS leukemia and other devastating childhood tumors of the brain.