Grants Search Results

This grant funds two students to complete work in pediatric oncology research for the summer. The experience may encourage them to choose childhood cancer research as a specialty. Project 1: Neuroblastomas are an enigmatic cancer of childhood with subtypes that have extremely good or poor survival. Poor prognosis neuroblastomas contain normal immune cells that help tumors grow. Important questions are 1) what is the repertoire of immune cells in neuroblastomas at time of diagnosis, 2) how the interplay between normal and tumor cells changes when tumors recur. The Summer Fellow will analyze images of tumors at recurrence and compare to the diagnosis images. These findings will provide insights into the types of immune cells that cancer cells rely on and may allow identification of new targets of therapy. Project 2: Decline in brain function may happen after irradiation to the brain in children. It is hard to predict the extent and speed by which it happens. There is suggestion that more rapid injury happens in areas with iron deposition. Using a novel MRI method that allows chemical identification and quantification of iron in the brain, the Summer Fellow will characterize the imaging changes in white matter of the brain in children who have been treated with radiation for their brain tumors. This will allow to then correlate the changes with future outcome of their cognitive function.

This grant funds an undergraduate student to complete work in pediatric oncology research for the summer. High risk neuroblastoma remains a challenge to cure with only 50% survival, despite multi-modality treatment. Natural killer (NK) cells have been previously shown to have activity versus neuroblastoma but have not been consistently successful in clinical trials. In similar fashion to how people receive flu shots, this project will treat bone marrow transplant recipients with 3 doses of a vaccine, with or without anti-PD1 therapy to stimulate T and NK cells, to introduce their immune system to what neuroblastoma looks like, so in the event this tumor tries to grow, the immune system will stop it and kill it before making the patient sick. This grant is named for the St. Baldrick's Foundation Staff whose generous gifts have helped fund this opportunity and may encourage students to choose childhood cancer research as a specialty.

This grant funds a medical school student to complete work in pediatric oncology research for the summer. The experience may encourage them to choose childhood cancer research as a specialty. Therapies that stimulate the immune system to target cancer cells are rapidly providing new and efficacious treatment options for pediatric patients with cancer. However, scientists are finding that solid tumors have evolved methods of inhibiting the immune system, minimizing the effects of these new therapies. One way of suppressing the immune system is through the upregulation of myeloid-derived suppressor cells. This study will help determine the prevalence and function of these cells in pediatric patients with solid tumors so that they can be specifically targeted to improve the efficacy of new immunotherapies.

This grant funds a graduate student to complete work in pediatric oncology research for the summer. The experience may encourage them to choose childhood cancer research as a specialty. Millions of cells are formed every day in the developing brain of children. Medulloblastoma, a pediatric tumor, occurs when the proliferation of cells in the cerebellum (a lower part of the brain) becomes uncontrolled. The Notch pathway is a key mechanism that governs cell proliferation in many biological contexts. Aberrant up-regulation of Notch signals is associated with medulloblastoma. Re-gaining control of Notch could help cure medulloblastoma patients. The goal of the Rual laboratory is to better understand the molecular mechanisms that control Notch signals in brain cells and, thus, to define novel therapeutic targets for the benefit of medulloblastoma patients. This lab recently identified the L3MBTL3 gene as a new modulator of Notch signals. Importantly, previous studies have shown that the L3MBTL3 genes is deleted in medulloblastoma patients. These researchers hypothesize that the L3MBTL3 deletions observed in medulloblastoma patients result in the aberrant regulation of Notch signals, thus supporting tumorigenesis. In this project, the student is helping to test this hypothesis by studying the extent to which inhibiting L3MBTL3 modulate medulloblastoma tumor progression in models of medulloblastoma.

This grant funds a medical school student to complete work in pediatric oncology research for the summer. The experience may encourage them to choose childhood cancer research as a specialty. Sarcoma is a type of cancer that arises in the bones, muscle or fat. In children, sarcoma continues to pose a formidable clinical challenge because it is frequently resistant to current treatments (chemotherapy and radiation). This student is helping to test the theory that a cancer-causing gene called ROS1 drives the aggressive growth of some sarcoma tumors. There are already FDA approved ROS1 drugs, and these are effective in adults with ROS1-driven lung cancer. Our overall goal is to validate known cancer causing genes, and repurpose safe drugs so that fewer children succumb to sarcoma, and the survivors have excellent long-term quality of life.

This grant funds a student to complete work in pediatric oncology research for the summer. The experience may encourage them to choose childhood cancer research as a specialty. This student is working under the supervision of a senior fellow to validate newly discovered immunotherapy targets in AML. The student is using molecular biology techniques to test top 20-30 candidate genes for expression in childhood AML. Validated genes will be used for further immunotherapy development.

This grant funds two undergraduate students to complete work in pediatric oncology research for the summer. The experience may encourage them to choose childhood cancer research as a specialty. Project 1: The current treatment strategy for brainstem gliomas is radiotherapy alone, as neurosurgery is not practical due to nearby vital structures. These researchers hypothesize that the development of therapeutics to radiosensitize cancer cells will increase DNA damage, leading to enhanced tumor cell death and ultimately an improvement in patient survival. To investigate the mechanisms of radiosensitization in brainstem gliomas, the student is assisting in utilizing models lacking the DNA damage response protein, ATM, or molecular inhibitors of ATM. The focus will be to investigate how the spectrum of mutations in tumors affects radiosensitization in the absence of functional ATM. Project 2: Rhabdomyosarcoma (RMS) is the most common connective tissue cancer of childhood. The alveolar variant (ARMS) is particularly hard to cure. A common genetic error in ARMS is the mutant protein PAX3-FOXO1, which turns on cellular programs that tell ARMS cells to keep dividing. However, PAX3-FOXO1 is not a good drug target and it does not work alone – it physically interacts with other proteins that carry out its cancer-causing instructions. Recently a team of three labs including this one collaborated to identify such proteins. One of the top discoveries was a protein called CDK8. Not much is known about the job of CDK8 in ARMS, this student will help reveal new information about ARMS.

This grant funds a graduate student to complete work in pediatric oncology research for the summer. The experience may encourage them to choose childhood cancer research as a specialty. HPV vaccination is an important but underutilized tool to ensure the long-term health of childhood and adolescent cancer survivors. Survivors of childhood and adolescent cancers are at higher risk for HPV-related health risks, including HPV-related cancers, than the general population. Unfortunately, their rate of HPV vaccination is much lower than the general population. This study will explore communication strategies related to the HPV vaccine among survivors being seen for follow-up care in an oncology setting. Interviews will be conducted with survivors (ages 18-26) as well as parents of survivors to understand their concerns about and barriers to HPV vaccination and to create specific communication strategies for oncology providers to discuss the HPV vaccine with survivors.

This grant funds a graduate student to complete work in pediatric oncology research for the summer. The experience may encourage them to choose childhood cancer research as a specialty. Neuroblastoma (NB) is an early childhood cancer for which more effective therapies are urgently needed. Immunotherapy has been promising for blood cancers, but in solid tumors like NB, immune cells must compete with tumors for limited nutrients to sustain their function. In NB tumors, these researchers found a high frequency of a type of tumor-killing T cell with unique functional properties that may effectively shrink tumors and improve patient survival. The student is assisting in activating these cells in neuroblastoma tumor models and investigate their cellular properties, with the goal of providing a foundation for more informed immunotherapy of NB and other solid tumors.

This grant funds an undergraduate student to complete work in pediatric oncology research for the summer. The experience may encourage them to choose childhood cancer research as a specialty. Raman spectroscopy (RESpect) is an innovative tool that can be applied to biological specimens to obtain RESpect fingerprints of cancer tissue. RESpect signatures will be obtained from different childhood cancer tissues using the standard RESpect tool in the lab and compare them to the RESpect fingerprints that are obtained from a portable RESpect probe. Applying RESpect technology using a portable RESpect probe has the exciting potential that a portable probe could be used in the clinical setting to quickly assess whether a child might need further assessment to determine if a cancer is present. The St. Baldrick’s Foundation Summer Fellow is collaborating with physicians, engineers and scientists with the potential to make an important contribution on discovering a novel application of RESpect technology.

This grant funds a medical school student to complete work in pediatric oncology research for the summer. The experience may encourage them to choose childhood cancer research as a specialty. T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia is a deadly pediatric cancer that requires the use of highly toxic treatment. Doctors still do not know the mechanisms that lead to development of this type of leukemia. This award will train a medical student to perform experiments to identify novel targets for treatment and to help us understand the mechanisms that regulate activities of genes in T-cell leukemia.

This grant funds a medical school student to complete work in pediatric oncology research for the summer. The experience may encourage them to choose childhood cancer research as a specialty. Diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) makes up 10-20% of pediatric non-Hodgkin lymphomas. Although its prognosis is improving, it requires up to six months of intensive chemotherapy. Abnormal lymphocytes in DLBCL have high energy demands, so if we could exhaust their energy source, we could arrest abnormal B cell proliferation. This project aims to develop novel, targeted therapy, by depleting energy reserve for B cells, in treating childhood blood cancers.

This grant funds a student to complete work in pediatric oncology research for the summer. The experience may encourage them to choose childhood cancer research as a specialty. B cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia is the most common pediatric cancer. The most deadly subtype of this disease has high levels of the CRLF2 protein. Leukemia cells of this type can be killed when treated with high doses of a naturally occurring molecule in the body. This molecule shuts down cancer causing signals produced by CRLF2. This award will provide resources for a medical student to perform experiments to help us understand the mechanisms that this molecule uses to exerts its anti-leukemia effects so that it can be developed as a new treatment for high-risk leukemia.

This grant funds an undergraduate student to complete work in pediatric oncology research for the summer. The experience may encourage them to choose childhood cancer research as a specialty. Diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma (DIPG) is an aggressive pediatric cancer with 10% overall survival 2 years from diagnosis. K27M mutations within histone H3 are the hallmark of DIPG. Panobinostat, a drug targeting epigenetic changes, has shown some promise in DIPG by multiple groups. These researchers' genomic analysis of DIPG cell lines shows that the cancer may be driven by LIN28. DFMO (a-difluoromethylornithine) decreases LIN28 protein levels in neuroblastoma and may be effective in treating DIPG. Therefore, the hypothesis is that co-treatment of DIPG with DFMO and panobinostat will result in increased cell death in DIPG and be an option for patients.

This grant funds two students to complete work in pediatric oncology research for the summer. The experience may encourage them to choose childhood cancer research as a specialty. Project 1: There is tremendous excitement surrounding immune checkpoint inhibitor therapies. However, debate continues regarding whether pediatric cancers can benefit from such approaches, as immune checkpoint expressions are often variable and low on pediatric tumors. The student will investigate molecular signaling crosstalk, thereby providing new molecular targets for immune checkpoint blockade for childhood cancers. Project 2: Osteosarcoma (OS) is the most common malignant primary bone cancer in the pediatric and adolescent population, with about 20% of these patients presenting with pulmonary metastasis at diagnosis, while about 30% develop lung metastasis (Lung OS) after therapy initiation, accounting for most of the OS-related mortality. The SBF summer fellow will investigate the how integrin signaling associated with this.

This grant funds an undergraduate student to complete work in pediatric oncology research for the summer. The experience may encourage them to choose childhood cancer research as a specialty. More than 80% of children with cancer before the age of 20 years will survive beyond 5 years from diagnosis. The exposure to chemotherapy causes both short-term as well as long-term health issues in these individuals. Exercise interventions in adults with cancer demonstrate significant benefits in health, however, there are no studies examining the effects in pediatric, adolescent and young adult cancer survivors. This study will determine if a one-on-one supervised exercise program or exercise intervention personalized for adolescent and young adult (AYA) cancer survivors (15 and 29 years age) will significantly improve chemotherapy-induced health issues.

This grant funds an undergraduate student to complete work in pediatric oncology research for the summer. The experience may encourage them to choose childhood cancer research as a specialty. In this summer project in the Ruggero lab, the student will learn and employ cutting edge biological techniques to identify proteins that drive medulloblastoma, focusing on specific proteins whose abundance is regulated by MYC genes.

This grant funds a medical school student to complete work in pediatric oncology research for the summer. The experience may encourage them to choose childhood cancer research as a specialty. Brain tumors are the second most common childhood malignancy. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is the gold-standard for detecting brain tumors. This project aims to establish novel physiological MRI protocols for non-invasive characterization of the immune and inflammatory milieu of pediatric brain tumors following radiation and immunotherapies in models.

This grant funds a medical school student to complete work in pediatric oncology research for the summer. The experience may encourage them to choose childhood cancer research as a specialty. Neuroblastoma is an often-deadly malignant childhood cancer. Research in the DeClerck lab has shown that non-cancerous stromal support cells in neuroblastoma tumors play an important role in the malignant behavior of the tumor by communicating between each other. A newly-recognized method for cell communication is via little vesicles called exosomes. These are released from one cell type and are captured by other cell types in the tumor and can affect tumor malignancy and resistance to therapy. In this project, the student is examining communication through such exosome vesicles between stromal cells and neuroblastoma tumor cells.

This grant funds an undergraduate student to complete work in pediatric oncology research for the summer. The experience may encourage them to choose childhood cancer research as a specialty. Ewing Sarcoma (ES) is an aggressive pediatric cancer. The disease has the worst prognosis when metastases are present, however mechanisms promoting its spread are not clear. These researchers have discovered a new mode of ES spread – migration along nerves. The data indicates that this process is stimulated by a protein released from these nerves – neuropeptide Y (NPY). The student is helping to identify molecules present in ES that recognize NPY and promote their invasion along the nerves, as well as test strategies preventing this effect. If successful, this study may impact ES patients by preventing tumor dissemination.