$50,000 Awarded to Virginia Commonwealth University to Support Promising Childhood Cancer Research

Part of $22 Million Awarded in New Grants by the St. Baldrick’s Foundation

RICHMOND, Va. (September 22, 2016) – The St. Baldrick’s Foundation, a volunteer-powered and donor-centered charity dedicated to raising money for childhood cancer research, is proud to award a $50,000 St. Baldrick’s Supportive Care Research Grant to support the work of Suzanne Ameringer, Ph.D., associate professor in the Department of Family and Community Health Nursing at Virginia Commonwealth University School of Nursing.

Unrelieved symptoms, such as nausea, fatigue and pain, lead to poorer quality of life for adolescents and young adults (AYA) with cancer. Dr. Ameringer and her team are working on strategies to help AYA patients manage their symptoms. They have developed the Computerized Symptom Capture Tool (C-SCAT) – a novel way to assess symptoms where AYA patients can create a picture of their symptoms using images and text on a mobile app.

With the grant from St. Baldrick’s, Dr. Ameringer is testing if the use of the C-SCAT improves self-management of symptoms and patient-provider communication about symptoms.

“Each of our team members has cared for children, adolescents and young adults with cancer, and we are dedicated to finding ways that will help these young people improve their own management of symptoms,” says Dr. Ameringer, Ph.D., associate professor in the Department of Family and Community Health Nursing at Virginia Commonwealth University School of Nursing. “The support from the St. Baldrick’s Foundation allows our group to conduct meaningful, larger-scale research to find those ways.”

Help the St. Baldrick’s Foundation continue to fund the best research, wherever it takes place. Make a donation today.

About St. Baldrick’s Foundation
As the largest private funder of childhood cancer research grants, the St. Baldrick’s Foundation believes that kids are special and deserve to be treated that way. St. Baldrick’s funds are granted to some of the most brilliant childhood cancer research experts who are working to find cures and better treatments for all childhood cancers. Kids need treatments as unique as they are – and that starts with funding research just for them. Join us at StBaldricks.org to help support the best cancer treatments for kids.

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