Childhood Cancer Research Grant Given in Honor of La Grange Park Child

La Grange Park, IL (Oct. 24, 2017) – The St. Baldrick’s Foundation, the largest private funder of childhood cancer research grants, is proud to announce that a St. Baldrick’s Hero Fund created in memory of Dominic Cairo, from La Grange Park, Ill., will support lifesaving childhood cancer research.

This year, the Do It For Dominic Hero Fund helped fund a St. Baldrick’s Scholar Grant for Dr. Matthew Barth at The University of Buffalo. With this $115,000 grant, Dr. Barth will study children whose disease is resistant to initial therapies. He will investigate the ability to reverse or overcome resistance by targeting altered pathways, and hopefully, killing resistant lymphoma cells – potentially providing new treatment options for patients with an otherwise poor prognosis.

“As a family who has lost a son to non-Hodgkin lymphoma with cells originally discovered in his central nervous system, we are very pleased to support Dr. Barth’s research, with hopes of helping others in need. My son, Dominic, was a very kind boy who is smiling down from heaven,” said Dominic’s father, Ernie Cairo.

The Do It For Dominic Hero Fund was created in memory of Dominic Cairo, who was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin lymphoma at the age of 5. Sadly, Dominic passed away a few days after finishing second grade. To those who knew him, Dominic was a hero. His school started a St. Baldrick’s team in his honor and this Hero Fund was born. Its goal is to fund research to ensure no other child has to go through what Dominic endured.

Dominic’s family and elementary school continue to keep his memory alive by raising money to find a cure for all pediatric cancers. Since 2009, the Cairo family and their community have raised $267,579.

A St. Baldrick’s Hero Fund is an ongoing way for friends, family members or groups to donate or raise funds for a loved one. To learn more about the program visit the Hero Fund page.

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 is leading the charge to take childhood back from cancer by funding 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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