Grants Search Results

Acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) is the most common type of childhood cancer with more than 3000 children/adolescents under the age of 20 diagnosed with ALL each year in USA. ALL affects a type of white blood cells called lymphocytes that help the body fight infection and disease. ALL can be broadly divided into either B-ALL or T-ALL. B-ALL affects a type of lymphocytes called B-lymphocytes whereas T-ALL affects T lymphocytes. Historically children with T-ALL have worse prognosis than B-ALL. B-ALL also have better therapeutic options whereas children with T-ALL are limited to therapies with well documented long-term negative effects like chemotherapy, radiation therapy. In this proposal, Dr. Thansapani and colleagues aim to evaluate a new therapeutic approach of nutrient deprivation to treat T-ALL grounded on their strong preliminary finding that T-ALL cells need high levels of the nutrient valine for their growth and survival. Dr. Thandapani's project investigates different avenues exploiting this vulnerability.

Children everywhere in the world get cancer but their chances of surviving differ based on where they live. Disparities in childhood cancer diagnoses and survival have been described by sex and age, but there are gaps in this literature from countries with limited resources. The first goal of Dr. Force's project is to analyze how childhood cancer diagnoses and survival differ by sex, age, and world region, using data from the most comprehensive international collection of hospital cancer registries, and to assess potential underlying drivers of these disparities, which would be beneficial in identifying interventions to improve equity in childhood cancer outcomes. The second goal of Dr. Force's project is to compare childhood cancer data from hospitals and population-based cancer registries, to determine whether hospital data could be used to supplement information on childhood cancer burden where data is currently lacking in global models, better illuminating the disparities that exist globally.

Cancer patients take life-saving drugs that, unfortunately, can result in peripheral nerve damage. For example, many patients receiving cisplatin experience permanent hearing loss. There is one therapy that has been approved to mitigate cisplatin-induced hearing loss, however, the reduction in hearing loss is modest (< 30%) and this mitigating treatment is associated with poorer overall survival rates due to inhibition of cisplatin's cancer-fighting properties. Thus, it is approved for low-risk pediatric patients only. To develop a better alternative, Dr. Rutherford and colleagues are testing novel compounds they have developed at Washington University, which have shown to protect the ear from noise trauma. With hearing tests and with anatomical measurements of the cochlea, Dr. Rutherford will attempt to prevent hearing loss following cisplatin treatment in models. After this innovative project proves successful, subsequent model studies will determine if Dr. Rutherford's therapy inhibits cisplatin's cancer-fighting role.

Diffuse midline glioma (DMG), previously known as diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma (DIPG), is a deadly childhood tumor with no effective treatments. Dr. Li's project seeks to understand the genetic and epigenetic dysregulation of DMGs. Through cutting-edge single-cell analyses and advanced AI models, researchers aim to map the tumor's epigenetic landscape, identify key regulatory elements, and predict the function of risk mutations. This knowledge could pave the way for new targeted therapies and improve DMG outcomes.

The final year of this three-year St. Baldrick's Scholar grant is funded by and named in honor of the Hannah Levy Miller Fund. Hannah passed away from Diffuse Intrinsic Pontine Glioma (DIPG) shortly before her 12th birthday. She was an avid reader who loved dancing, playing the cello, and playing soccer. To honor her memory and create a lasting legacy, her family established the Hero Fund to support research for DIPG. This mission reflects exactly what Hannah would have wanted—to help other children and families facing this devastating disease.

The first year St. Baldrick's Scholar award is funded by and named for #Joe Strong 71, a St. Baldrick’s Hero Fund created in memory of Joe Purdue. Joe was a talented football player and cherished friend and son. He was diagnosed with DIPG shortly after graduating from high school, cutting short his plans to attend college. He is remembered for determination as he battled the most lethal form of brain cancer. #Joe Strong 71 carries on Joe's legacy by funding research for DIPG.

Hepatoblastoma is the most common liver tumor diagnosed in early childhood, and new therapies are urgently needed to improve survival and reduce treatment related morbidity. Immunotherapy is a type of cancer treatment that harnesses the body's own immune system to target and attack cancer cells. While some immunotherapies have been very successful against certain tumor types in adult patients, they have been largely unsuccessful in treating pediatric tumors. This demonstrates how little we know about how the pediatric immune system responds to tumors. Using samples and models of hepatoblastoma, Dr. Cabric's research aims to identify the key immune cells involved in recognizing and responding to hepatoblastoma. Identifying the key immune cells involved in tumor immunity, and mechanisms that allow tumors to escape detection and deletion by the immune system, will allow us to find novel targets for future immunotherapies that work in children.

This grant is funded by Allied World, a global provider of insurance and reinsurance solutions.

Despite remarkable improvements in treatment for children with some types of cancer, pediatric brain tumors remain an area that desperately require more effective and low toxic therapy solutions. Dr. Jun Qi has formed a multi-disciplinary team to identify novel targets for pediatric brain tumors and develop new strategies to suppress the targets for patient treatment. Using a chemical strategy, Dr. Qi and his team aim to disrupt the functions of these targets to effectively inhibit brain tumor cell growth and block tumor progression in the models that resemble the real disease. The study focuses on improving on-target effect and, more importantly, on getting these potential drug candidates into the brain. The proposed study will translate from bench to bedside for patient care and result in a novel therapeutic strategy with significant improvements in survival and reduced morbidity for pediatric brain tumor patients to fulfill the mission of St. Baldrick's Foundation.

This grant is named for the Pray for Dominic Hero Fund. The fund was established in honor of Dominic Liples who lived with joy. He is remembered for compassion and determination while he faced his own difficult battle with a rare and aggressive brain cancer. The Pray for Dominic fund carries on Dominic's legacy of joy and hope by funding research for high-grade gliomas.

Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is a blood cancer that affects children. AML treatment involves intensive chemotherapy that requires over 140 days in the hospital. This places immense financial burden on families including medical bills, transportation costs, childcare, and missed days from work. This burden and resulting distress are called financial toxicity. Dr. Zheng's research is focused on measuring financial toxicity and trying to figure out what can be done about it. One important idea to consider is that many parents quit their jobs or reduce their hours to care for their child. Dr. Zheng plans to use surveys and interviews to gain a clearer picture of how work disruptions develop over AML treatment and lead to financial toxicity. Dr. Zheng wants to identify what work arrangements and policies could offer the most support. Ultimately, it could lead to advocating for more flexible work schedules, remote work options, or other accommodations that could make a real difference for these families.

Ewing sarcoma (EwS), the 2nd most common childhood bone sarcoma, is an aggressive tumour that primarily affects children, adolescents, and young adults. When EwS tumor cells spread to other parts of the body, known as metastasis, survival is drastically diminished to only 15-20%, which has not changed for decades. Immunotherapy empowers a patient’s own immune system to attack cancer, which has tremendous promise as an alternative to chemotherapies that are often toxic, especially to a growing child. Dr. Sorensen and his team recently identified a protein that is highly expressed on the surface of EwS cells, while showing only minimal to absent expression in normal tissues, nominating IL1RAP as a very promising therapeutic target. With their collaborators at the University of Pittsburgh, they have identified specific antibodies binding to IL1RAP and have engineered these antibodies to be conjugated to a drug that kills EwS cells potently. In this project, they will perform the extensive validation of these compounds to enable the design of early clinical trials for the treatment of EwS. This Better Ewing Sarcoma Therapies (BEST) grant is supported by a unique partnership of funders through the St. Baldrick’s Foundation: D-Feet Cancer, The Faris Foundation, The Shohet Family Fund for Ewing Sarcoma Research, an anonymous donor, and the family and friends of Martha Riedel.

This grant supports a specialist to ensure that more kids can be enrolled in clinical trials, often their best hope for a cure.

Florida lacks a larger comprehensive cancer center for children, which makes it more difficult for children fighting cancer to receive cutting edge therapy. This grant supports a Clinical Research Coordinator to ensure that more kids can be treated on clinical trials, often their best hope for a cure.

The El Paso region faces unique challenges in terms of delivery of childhood cancer care due to its unique population in underserved border region. This grant supports Clinical Research Associates to ensure that more kids can be treated on clinical trials, often their best hope for a cure.

This grant supports pediatric-focused Clinical Research Assistants 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 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 supports a Spanish-speaking Clinical Research Assistant to ensure that more Hispanic children 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 supports a Clinical Research Associate (CRA) to ensure that more kids can be treated on clinical trials, often their best hope for a cure. At Children's Hospital of Michigan many patients are of minority background, and historically minorities have not always had the same access to health care. Funding from St. Baldrick's Foundation will help the institution continue to have excellent CRA support in the clinical trials office for every patient.

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

Through this partnership with The Children's Cancer Foundation, proceeds from St. Baldrick's events in Hong Kong fund life-saving research in Hong Kong.