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Press Release

St. Baldrick’s Foundation Applauds Introduction of the Childhood Cancer STAR Reauthorization Act 

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April 28, 2022

MEDIA CONTACT:
Jo Anne Avelar
626-792-8247 EXT. 221
joanne.avelar@stbaldricks.org

LOS ANGELES, CA (April 28, 2022) – The St. Baldrick’s Foundation, the largest non-government funder of childhood cancer grants, applauds the introduction of the Childhood Cancer STAR Reauthorization Act in both the U.S. Senate and U.S. House of Representatives today. This new legislation, which the St. Baldrick’s Foundation helped craft along with the Alliance for Childhood Cancer, will allow the programs from the Childhood Cancer STAR Act to continue for five more years.

Congress unanimously passed the Childhood Cancer Survivorship, Treatment, Access, and Research (STAR) Act in 2018, the most comprehensive childhood cancer bill in history. The STAR Act expands opportunities for childhood cancer research, improves efforts to identify and track childhood cancer incidences, and enhances the quality of life for childhood cancer survivors.

“Because of the STAR Act, new research in biobanking and in childhood cancer survivorship is being funded at the National Cancer Institute, and new studies have been conducted on barriers childhood cancer survivors face in accessing care,” said Kathleen Ruddy, CEO of the St. Baldrick’s Foundation. “This new legislation allows these important efforts to continue to make meaningful investments for kids with cancer.”

Senator Jack Reed (D-R.I.), Senator Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.), Senator Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), Representative Michael McCaul (R-Texas), Representative Jackie Speier (D-Calif.), Representative Mike Kelly (R-Pa.), and Representative G. K. Butterfield (D-N.C.) introduced this bipartisan, bicameral legislation today. Nearly 300 childhood cancer advocates from 39 states and Washington, D.C. are virtually on Capitol Hill today for the Alliance for Childhood Cancer’s Action Day 2022 to advocate on behalf of this legislation.

“The childhood cancer community has tremendous, dedicated champions on Capitol Hill who are committed to giving kids a lifetime beyond a cancer diagnosis,” said Ruddy. “Thank you to Senator Reed, Senator Capito, Senator Van Hollen, Senator Murkowski, Representative McCaul, Representative Speier, Representative Kelly, and Representative Butterfield for your ongoing leadership on behalf of kids with cancer. The St. Baldrick’s Foundation stands ready to advocate alongside you to pass this bill.”

About St. Baldrick’s Foundation

Every 2 minutes, a child somewhere in the world is diagnosed with cancer. In the U.S., 1 in 5 will not survive. The St. Baldrick’s Foundation, the largest non-government funder of childhood cancer research grants, is on a mission to give kids a lifetime by supporting the most promising research to find cures and better treatments for all childhood cancers. When you give to St. Baldrick’s, you don’t just give to one hospital – you support virtually every institution with the expertise to treat kids with cancer across the U.S. St. Baldrick’s ensures that children fighting cancer now — and those diagnosed in the future — will have access to the most cutting-edge treatment, by supporting every stage of research, from new ideas in the lab to the development of new therapies, to lifesaving clinical trials. Join us at StBaldricks.org and help #GiveKidsALifetime.