9 Projects Receive CancerFree KIDS Funding
Post Date: July 8, 2021 | Publish Date:
Nine research projects at Cincinnati Children’s have been awarded a total of $446,000 in grants from CancerFree KIDS.
The Loveland-based nonprofit said the grants, which range from $46,000 to $50,000 per project, would help fund studies of pediatric malignant tumors, leukemia, immune diseases, and malignant medulloblastoma.
“We have a long-standing relationship with Cincinnati Children’s, and we couldn’t be more thrilled to fund this research at one of the nation’s top pediatric cancer hospitals,” said Jill Brinck, executive director of CancerFree KIDS. “Cincinnati Children’s is renowned for its commitment to improving outcomes for children with cancer, and CancerFree KIDS is proud to be a partner in that valiant endeavor.”
The funding to help scientists at Cincinnati Children’s was part of a total of $1 million in grants to aid 19 research studies in Ohio, including 10 projects at Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Columbus.
The grants represent the largest round of funding ever by CancerFree KIDS, and the funds will advance what the group described as its “mission to find gentler treatments and cures for children with cancer.”
“Pediatric cancer research is critically underfunded, but CancerFree KIDS is trying to help bridge the gap,” Brinck said. “The research we fund has a direct impact on our community.”
The Cincinnati Children’s projects are:
- Biplab Dasgupta, PhD, “One-carbon and nucleotide metabolism are novel targets in pediatric tumors,” $50,000.
- Andrew Volk, PhD, “The chromatin assembly complex as a druggable target in pediatric leukemia,” $50,000.
- Nancy Ratner, PhD, “RAS-specific combination therapies for MPNST,” $46,000.
- La Man “Natalie” Wu, PhD, “Targeting tumor-initiating stem cell metabolism for MPNSTs,” $50,000.
- Michael Jordan, MD, “Harnessing insights from immune regulatory diseases to improve CAR-T cell therapy,” $50,000.
- Dazhuan Eric Xin, PhD; Richard Lu, PhD; and John Perentesis, MD, “Innovative proton radiotherapy for pediatric malignant medulloblastoma,” $50,000.
- Zhaowei Tu, PhD, “Overcoming chemo-resistant RUNX1 mutant AML,” $50,000.
- Marie-Dominque Filippi, PhD, “Expositing metabolic vulnerability of pediatric leukemia for developing new therapeutics,” $50,000.
- Frank Huang, PhD, “Preclinical treatment with ouabain in matched primary and recurrent medulloblastoma,” $50,000.
