This institution is a member of a research consortium which is being funded by St. Baldrick's: New Approaches to Neuroblastoma Therapy (NANT) Consortium. For a description of this project, see the consortium grant made to the lead institution: Children's Hospital Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA.

This institution is a member of a research consortium which is being funded by St. Baldrick's: Precision–based Therapy for Childhood Leukemia. For a description of this project, see the consortium grant made to the lead institution: Dana–Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, MA.

This institution is a member of a research consortium which is being funded by St. Baldrick's: Cellular and Immunological Approaches to Prevent Relapse: Pediatric Blood and Marrow Transplant Consortium (PBMTC). For a description of this project, see the consortium grant made to the lead institution: National Marrow Donor Program, Minneapolis, MN.

Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) as an aggressive pediatric cancer associated with poor outcomes and few changes in therapies over the past 30 years. The presence of small numbers of persisting leukemia cells after chemotherapy has become an important predictor of leukemia relapse, however, current assays used to detect residual leukemia have limited sensitivity and many patients with “no detectable leukemia” still go on to relapse. This underscores the need to identify and develop novel assays that more accurately determine optimal therapies and that improve upon current leukemia detection approaches for AML. Dr. Meshinchi and colleagues have performed functional genomic profiling (RNA sequencing) in 2000 children, adolescents, and young adults diagnosed with AML over the past 25 years that includes diagnosis, remission, and relapse timepoints. This preliminary data suggests that deep and functional cancer profiling across an unprecedented number of patient samples and timepoints informs relapse risk, enables a precision medicine approach that considers specific alterations within a patient’s specific cancer, and links diagnosis and relapse profiles with the goal of better understanding how/why relapses occur and how best to prevent them. Therefore, Dr. Meshinchi and colleagues plan to leverage this unprecedented dataset to develop an integrated genomic platform that will significantly improve prognostic determination and treatment decisions for children, adolescents, and young adults diagnosed with AML. Successful validation of our assays will therefore fill a critical unmet need in the field of AML, and the resulting product will be an optimized test ready for clinical use.

This grant is funded through a partnership between the St. Baldrick’s Foundation and the American Cancer Society.

Immunotherapy is an exceedingly promising approach to transform the way we treat childhood cancers, increasing cures while decreasing toxicity. The St. Baldrick's Foundation EPICC Team (Empowering Pediatric Immunotherapies for Childhood Cancer) brings together experts from the fields of genomics and immunotherapy from across North America. This team is developing new, targeted immunotherapies for the most difficult to cure childhood cancers. Discoveries are made through basic, translational, and clinical studies conducted in parallel, catalyzing progress in each sphere. The goals are to discover molecules on pediatric cancers that are targetable using immunotherapies, and to develop new therapeutics to target children's cancers. This focus is complementary with other genomic and immunotherapy consortia. The SBF-EPICC team conducts early phase clinical trials of promising immunotherapies throughout North America with a focus on understanding mechanisms of resistance to current approaches as a first step toward developing next generation therapeutics.

The team is made up of researchers at ten institutions: Baylor College of Medicine, British Columbia Cancer Agency, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Hospital for Sick Children, National Cancer Institute, Seattle Children's Hospital, Stanford University, University of Colorado Denver, University of Pittsburgh, and University of Wisconsin. Funds administered by The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia.

This team began in 2013 as the Stand Up To Cancer-St. Baldrick's Foundation Pediatric Cancer Dream Team. In 2022, the work continues as the St. Baldrick's EPICC Team (Empowering Pediatric Immunotherapies for Childhood Cancer Team), with continued funding from St. Baldrick's and funding partners.

This institution is a member of the Children's Oncology Group (COG). From the first event in 2000 until 2004, St. Baldrick's funds benefited the COG. Since the St. Baldrick's Foundation began making grants in 2005, each of the 200 member institutions of the COG has received a portion of a multi-million dollar St. Baldrick's grant every year. These funds have been distributed based on the number of patients at each institution who are treated on COG clinical trials, their best hope for a cure.

This institution is a member of the Children's Oncology Group (COG). From the first event in 2000 until 2004, St. Baldrick's funds benefited the COG. Since the St. Baldrick's Foundation began making grants in 2005, each of the 200 member institutions of the COG has received a portion of a multi-million dollar St. Baldrick's grant every year. These funds have been distributed based on the number of patients at each institution who are treated on COG clinical trials, their best hope for a cure.