Childhood Cancer Research Grant Given in Honor of Woodstock Child

WOODSTOCK, Ga. (September 18, 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 honor of Kiersten Dickson from Woodstock, Ga., will be supporting lifesaving childhood cancer research.

This year, the Not All Who Wander Are Lost Hero Fund helped to support a St. Baldrick’s Fellow Grant for Corey Falcon, M.D., who is in the third year of the Pediatric Hematology-Oncology Fellowship Training Program at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB), and treats patients at Children’s of Alabama. With this $80,674 grant, Dr. Falcon will explore new, less toxic therapies for high-risk acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). Dr. Falcon is working to improve the safety and eliminate side-effects of a cutting-edge immunotherapy treatment called chimeric antigen receptor T-cells (CAR-T), which alters patient’s own cancer-fighting cells (T-cells) to express a protein able to recognize and fight ALL cells (CD19).

“The Not All Who Wander Are Lost Hero Fund is thrilled to be able to support Dr. Falcon’s innovative CAR-T immunotherapy treatment research,” said John Dickson, Kiersten’s father. “Kiersten envisioned a world where childhood cancer treatments cured the disease without the terrible side-effects of conventional chemotherapy. Dr. Falcon’s research is a great step in realizing Kiersten’s vision and the vision shared by her friends, family and coworkers who form the core of the Not All Who Wander Are Lost Hero Fund.”

The Not All Who Wander Are Lost Hero Fund was created in memory of Kiersten Dickson, a free-spirited 19-year-old who lost her battle against small cell lung cancer, a rare, incurable cancer. This fund is named after Kiersten’s favorite quote from J.R.R. Tolkien and honors her memory and legacy by funding cutting-edge immunotherapy treatments for pediatric cancers.

Though Kiersten knew her diagnosis meant she would give up her earthly body too soon, she made it her mission to fight pediatric cancers by raising money for immunotherapy research so more kids would survive without the debilitating side-effects of chemotherapy and radiation.

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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