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Medulloblastoma is the most aggressive brain tumor in children. Finding new therapies depends upon a better understanding of the biological mechanisms of medulloblastoma formation. As the recipient of the Hannah's Heroes St. Baldrick's Research Grant, Dr. Van Meir is evaluating the role of a tumor suppressor in medulloblastoma tumorigenesis. Understanding the role of this suppressor could lead to novel therapeutic prospects for children with medulloblastoma.

This grant is named for the Hannah's Heroes Hero Fund created in honor of Hannah Meeson and pays tribute to her fight by raising awareness and funding for all childhood cancers.

Medulloblastoma is the most common malignant brain tumor. There is an urgent need to develop novel therapies for children with medulloblastoma. Dr. Van Meir and his team are studying the importance of the loss of tumor suppressor BAI1 in medulloblastoma. Such new knowledge has the potential to reveal new ways to treat this disease.

Ewings sarcoma, the second most common bone cancer in children and young adults, is very aggressive. Current treatments are not very effective at curing the disease and patients often experience a recurrence of their cancer. Dr. Van Meir is looking for new and more effective treatments for this type of tumor. His laboratory has found a small molecule (KCN1) that they believe may reduce the growth of Ewings sarcoma. KCN1 binds with EWS-FLI1 which is known to stimulate the growth of Ewings sarcoma. Earlier attempts at using a recombinant EWS-FLI1 to produce targeted therapy have been difficult due to the lack of information about the structural makeup of EWS-FLI1. In this project researchers are investigating 1) How the binding occurs between EWS-FLI1 and KCN1, 2) Whether the KCN1 reduces the expression of the EWS-FLI1 gene that causes Ewings and 3) Does KCN1 interfere with Ewings sarcoma development.