St. Baldrick’s Foundation Keeps 20-Year Promise During Pandemic, Funds Over $12.9 Million in New Grants

Money awarded will support the best childhood cancer research

LOS ANGELES (July 23, 2020) – With nonprofits hit hard by the economic crisis caused by shutdowns due to COVID-19, the St. Baldrick’s Foundation, the largest charitable funder of childhood cancer research grants, is proud to announce its ability to award 53 grants totaling more than $12.9 million – keeping its promise to fund the best childhood cancer research, no matter where it takes place.

This year’s funding for research is more important than ever because of the effects COVID-19 has had on private institutions’ ability to raise money for research. While the amount of St. Baldrick’s funding is lower than normal, due to the postponement or cancellation of about two thirds of this spring’s fundraising events, this investment into new research projects will continue the quest for more effective and less toxic cures for childhood cancers.

Despite current challenges, St. Baldrick’s volunteers and donors have continued to work tirelessly to bring in the money needed to fund more research – because childhood cancer doesn’t pause for a pandemic.

• Every two minutes a child is diagnosed with cancer worldwide.
• In the United States, one in five of those kids diagnosed with cancer will not survive.
• Of those who do survive, 96 percent have a severe or life-threatening condition by the age of 50.

Kids with cancer deserve better.

With these newly awarded grants, childhood cancer researchers can continue to pursue new ideas and work to move novel treatment approaches to the next phase of testing. Ultimately, these grants will reveal potential new treatments and cures for kids with cancer.

“Childhood cancer researchers are determined, resilient, and perseverant. Although lab closures have caused research delays during the COVID-19 pandemic, the work is forging ahead on many fronts,” said Susan Cohn, M.D., St. Baldrick’s Chair of the Scientific Advisory Committee and Board Member. “Because funding sources have also been severely impacted by the pandemic, St. Baldrick’s grants are even more important this year. With the support from St. Baldrick’s, researchers are able to continue to make new discoveries and develop better treatment options so children with cancer can live longer and healthier lives.”

To date, St. Baldrick’s has granted over $300 million to support the most promising research to find cures for all childhood cancers.

The following institutions were awarded new grants:

• Alabama
  • Children’s of Alabama and University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, Ala.
• California
  • Beckman Research Institute of City of Hope, Duarte, Calif.
  • Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, Los Angeles, Calif.
  • Stanford University, Stanford, Calif.
  • University of California San Diego School of Medicine, San Diego, Calif.
  • University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, Calif.
  • University of California, Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, Calif.
• Colorado
  • University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, Aurora, Colo.
• Connecticut
  • Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, Conn.
• Florida
  • University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, Coral Gables, Fla.
  • University of Florida, Gainesville, Fla.
• Georgia
  • Emory University School of Medicine Department of Pediatrics and Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, Atlanta, Ga.
• Illinois
  • Northwestern University, Chicago, Ill.
  • University of Chicago, Chicago, Ill.
• Maryland
  • Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Md.
• Massachusetts
  • Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, Mass.
  • Dana-Farber/Boston Children’s Cancer and Blood Disorders Center, Boston, Mass.
• Missouri
  • Stowers Institute for Medical Research, Kansas City, Mo.
  • Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, Mo.
• New York
  • Columbia University Irving Medical Center, New York, N.Y.
  • Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, N.Y.
  • NYU Grossman School of Medicine, New York, N.Y.
  • St. John’s University, Jamaica, N.Y.
  • University of Rochester Medical Center, Rochester, N.Y.
• Ohio
  • Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, Cleveland, Ohio
• Pennsylvania
  • Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pa.
  • Penn State College of Medicine, Hershey, Pa.
  • Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, Pa.
• Tennessee
  • St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, Memphis, Tenn.
  • Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tenn.
• Texas
  • Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas
  • The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, Houston, Texas
• Utah
  • Huntsman Cancer Institute at the University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah
• Washington
  • Seattle Children’s, Seattle, Wash.
• Washington, D.C.
  • Children’s National Hospital and Children’s National Research Institute (CNRI), Washington, D.C.
• Canada
  • The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Within this grant cycle, St. Baldrick’s has also awarded more than $4.3 million to the Children’s Oncology Group, a National Cancer Institute supported clinical trials group, and the world’s largest organization devoted exclusively to childhood and adolescent cancer research.

If you’d like more details about the research St. Baldrick’s is funding near you, a specific disease type or research focus area, visit the Grants Search page. The next St. Baldrick’s grants will be announced this fall.

To help St. Baldrick’s continue to fund critical research go to StBaldricks.org to learn the many ways you can get involved and donate. Or join the Speak Up for Kids’ Cancer advocacy action network to encourage federal lawmakers to continue to fund childhood cancer research. Connect with St. Baldrick’s on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube.

About St. Baldrick’s Foundation
As the largest private funder of childhood cancer research grants, the St. Baldrick’s Foundation is leading the charge to take childhood back from cancer. St. Baldrick’s funds 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 childhood cancer research, no matter where it takes place.

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