Grants Search Results

This grant supports an adolescent-young Adult (AYA) liaison to ensure that more AYAs can be treated on clinical trials, often their best hope for a cure.

This grant helps provide necessary resources for the Childhood Cancer Survivorship Program at this institution. The program provides survivors the support, treatment and education they need to prevent and address these late effects.

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

This grant funds personnel to ensure that more kids can be treated on clinical trials, often their best hope for a cure.

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

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

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

This grant funds a Clinical Research Nurse to ensure that more kids can be treated on clinical trials, often their best hope for a cure.

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

Funding from the St. Baldrick's Foundation has taken two very small programs at UIC and Rush Medical Centers, merged them and brought Stroger Medical Center into the fold to forge a single entity for purposes of participation in Children's Oncology Group clinical trials. This support of necessary personnel has significantly increased clinical trial participation for patients who otherwise might not have access to them.

This grant supportss a Clinical Research Coordinator to ensure that more kids can be treated on clinical trials, often their best hope for a cure.

This grant supports a Clinical Research Associate dedicated to Phase I, II, and III brain tumor clinical trials, to ensure that more kids can be treated on clinical trials.

This grant funds a pediatric specific pharmacist at this institution to improve patient outcomes and care.

Genetic studies have identified the molecular causes of childhood cancers such as T-cell leukemia and neuroblastoma. A recurrent theme in these cancers is abnormal activation of the MYC gene. Accordingly, researchers like Dr. Wendel have spent much time and effort in trying to identify inhibitors of MYC as they believe these could be very powerful therapies for these childhood cancers. Dr. Wendel and his colleagues recently found a new way to block the production of MYC using a natural compound. The natural product is rare and hard to come by and therefore Dr. Wendel and his colleagues are exploring ways to generate synthetic drugs based on this plant product. With support from the St. Baldrick’s Foundation they are working to bring this new strategy to the clinic. They focus especially on heavily pre-treated and relapsed childhood leukemia because affected children have few options and they hope to make a difference.

Neuroblastoma is a cancer of the cells that become nerve tissues in the body, except in the brain. Dr. Bernstein is studying the effect of a particular mutation in neuroblastoma – an event that alters the DNA sequence to promote cancer. This mutation lies in a gene called ATRX. Dr. Bernstein takes a genomics approach to understand how ATRX mutations promote neuroblastoma in order to discover new therapies for children with ATRX mutations.

Based on progress to date, Dr. Bhakta was awarded a new grant in 2017 to fund an additional year of this Fellow award. While the increase cure rates for many childhood cancers is cause for celebration, researchers are increasingly recognizing the long-term consequences of cancer therapy. Recent studies have shown that survivors of childhood cancer are at risk for developing a wide range of long-term health problems and die at an earlier age due to the lifelong side effects of their curative therapies. Dr. Bhakta is investigating the magnitude of chronic health conditions experienced by survivors to inform future approaches for prevention and early detection to maximize long-term survival and quality of life.

A portion of the grant was generously supported by the Morgan and Friends Fund created to honor Morgan Loudon and celebrate her strength and determination as a cancer survivor while rallying family and friends to "battle on" in the search for cures and better treatments.

Based on progress to date, Dr. Brinkman was awarded a new grant in 2018 to fund an additional year of this Scholar grant. Survivors of childhood brain tumors are at-risk for problems with developing social relationships. These problems can lead to feelings of isolation, loneliness and social anxiety. Dr. Brinkman believes this is due to changes in a survivor's brain due to their cancer and its treatment. Dr. Brinkman's research aims to examine how the structure and function of the brain is related to survivors' understanding of social information and their social behavior. These results aim to help with the identification of treatments for social problems.

This new award is generously supported by the Team Campbell Foundation, established in memory of Campbell Hoyt, who courageously battled anaplastic ependymoma, a rare cancer of the brain and spine for five years. Its mission is to improve the lives of families facing a childhood cancer diagnosis through raising awareness, funding research and providing psycho-social enrichment opportunities.

The chemotherapy drugs used to treat cancer do not always work, because only a small amount of the drug ever gets to the tumor. Also, these drugs are very toxic to the patient. However, if we package the drugs into little packets called nanoparticles, we get a lot more drug into the tumor because their blood vessels are leaky. Also, the nanoparticles are too big to get into most normal tissues. Dr. Brodeur's Invictus Fund St. Baldrick’s Research Grant aims to find successful ways to give less total drug, have a much greater effect on the tumor, and have much less toxicity to the patient.

This grant is funded by and named for the Invictus Fund, a St. Baldrick's Hero Fund created in memory of Holden Gilkinson and honors his unconquerable spirit in his battle with bilateral Wilms tumor by funding cures and treatments to mitigate side and late effects of childhood cancer.

Leukemia is a form of blood cancer, and is the most common cancer in children. Overall, cure rates for children with some forms of leukemia is very high (almost 90%). However, when leukemia occurs in babies, the cure rate is only 40%. Dr. Brown has discovered that these leukemias may be harder to cure because the cancer cells have abnormal ways of organizing their DNA. Dr. Brown's research aims to understand this better to develop new treatments that will reverse this abnormal DNA organization and make the leukemias easier to cure.

Based on progress to date, Dr. Chertok was awarded a new grant in 2018 to fund an additional year of this Scholar grant. The immune system efficiently fights infections in the normal brain, but malfunctions in brain tumors. Dr. Chertok hopes to empower the immune system to fight tumors by delivering agents that alter immune system activities. To do this, Dr. Chertok's research aims to develop tiny devices the size of blood cells that carry agents in the blood stream and release them with pre-designed timing after localized activation from outside the body. These devices will be used to modify how the immune system responds to brain tumors. This approach could lead to safe and effective therapies for children with brain cancer.

A portion of this grant is generously supported by Griffin's Guardians, a St. Baldrick's partner. Griffin's Guardians was created by the Engles in memory of their son, Griffin. Their mission is to provide support and financial assistance to children battling cancer in Central New York, raise awareness about pediatric cancer and provide funding for research.