Ty Louis Campbell Foundation Extends Partnership with the St. Baldrick’s Foundation to Give Hope to Children with Brain Tumors

Carmel, N.Y. – The St. Baldrick’s Foundation, the largest private funder of childhood cancer research grants, is proud to announce its continued partnership with the Ty Louis Campbell (TLC) Foundation in Carmel, N.Y., to support the best research to find cures and better treatments for kids with cancer.

This year, the TLC Foundation will continue to support the work of Samuel Cheshier, M.D., Ph.D., at the University of Utah, with a $115,000 St. Baldrick’s Scholar Grant. This funding will support his research focused on malignant primary brain tumors. Dr. Cheshier aims to treat malignant brain tumors by stimulating the immune system to “eat” the cancer cells while leaving normal cells alone. This strategy combines a newly developed antibody protein that stimulates the “eating” cells of the immune system with known antibody proteins that can target brain tumors.

“The St. Baldrick’s – Ty Louis Campbell Foundation Grant has been the single most valuable support of my research efforts. Often pediatric brain cancers are only thought of secondarily by researchers and pharma, as they do not represent a big market,” said Dr. Cheshier. “This lack of effort is despite the fact that brain tumors are the most common solid tumors in children and the biggest cancer killer in tumors. The support that the St. Baldrick’s Foundation and the Ty Louis Campbell Foundation have given me, allows me the time to conduct this research and achieve my goal of finding safer and more effective treatments for malignant primary pediatric brain cancers.”

Past funding of Dr. Cheshier’s work has aided in identifying that anti-CD47 is a potent and potentially safe therapy against five malignant pediatric brain tumors: pediatric glioblastoma, diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma (DIPG), group 3 and 4 medulloblastoma, atypical teratoid rhabdoid tumor (ATRT) and primitive neruoectodermal tumors (PNET). In this research it was found that the normal central nervous system tissues were spared, and the cancer stem cells were targeted with this therapy.

Dr. Cheshier and his colleagues who helped in this discovery, Drs. Suzana Kahn and Sid Mitra, will be presenting their findings and proposal for a clinical trial to the Pediatric Neuro-Oncology Consortium this November, with the goal of being able to start the clinical trials in 2019.

“When St. Baldrick’s presented us with a number of research proposals for pediatric brain tumors that had been reviewed by their esteemed Scientific Advisory Committee, Dr. Cheshier’s work stood out as the one we wanted to partner on from the start,” said Cindy Campbell, co-founder, TLC Foundation. “To see his hard work culminate into a phase 1 clinical trial is a dream realized – we had always believed in this project and hoped the treatment would make it to clinic one day.”

This grant is named for the Ty Louis Campbell Foundation. TLC Foundation was founded by Dr. Louis and Cindy Campbell, in memory of their son, Ty, who lost his 2-year battle with brain cancer on October 17, 2012, just days after his fifth birthday. Louis and Cindy are dedicated to supporting research that will find cures and better treatments for high-risk pediatric brain tumors and have partnered with the St. Baldrick’s Foundation because of its trusted and rigorous scientific peer-review process. Through this partnership, the TLC Foundation was able to review and select a specific grant from a variety of research opportunities and chose a project focused on brain tumors.

To learn more about St. Baldrick’s partnership opportunities, visit StBaldricks.org/Partners, and connect on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, or Vimeo.

About the TLC Foundation
The Ty Louis Campbell (TLC) Foundation was created in his honor to raise awareness for pediatric cancer through the story of his courageous battle, and to help fund the progress that is being made in developing more effective, less harmful treatment for a range of high-risk pediatric cancers. At TLC, we support our mission with a three-tiered approach focused on fundraising, volunteerism and charitable merchandising.

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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