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Cincinnati Children’s Awarded 13 Grants from CancerFree KIDS

Pinwheel themed logo for CancerFree KIDS

CancerFree KIDS has continued its generous giving in the form of grants to 13 research projects at Cincinnati Children’s. The total amount awarded to research programs this round was $750,000.

With this year’s investments, the total grant funding to date from CancerFree KIDS to Cincinnati Children’s is $5.5 million.

“We’re fortunate to have a great team here at Cincinnati Children’s and CancerFree KIDS is a central part of that team and a central part of innovation,” says John Perentesis, MD, director of the Division of Oncology, and co-executive director of the Cancer and Blood Diseases Institute. “Their funding allows us to look at transformational big leaps and how we think about cancer to treat and cure kids for whom regular therapies don’t work.”

The Loveland-based nonprofit said the grants, which range from $50,000 to $100,000 per project, would help fund studies of proton therapy, pediatric T-cell immunotherapy, lymphoma, and more.

“These grants fund high-risk, high-reward research initiatives that give children with cancer and their families real hope,” says Jill Brinck, executive director, CancerFree KIDS. “These investments would not be possible without our many supporters who walk beside us to champion the cause.”

The Cincinnati Children’s projects are:

  • Biplab Dasgupta, PhD, “Targeting 0ne-carbon metabolism in DIPG,” $100,000
  • Dazhuan Eric Xin, PhD, “Innovative proton radiotherapy for pediatric malignant medulloblastoma,” $100,000
  • Lai Man Natalie Wu, PhD, “Harnessing novel irradiation strategies to improve immunotherapy for systemic elimination of high-risk neuroblastoma,” $50,000
  • Jennifer Yeung, PhD, “Characterizing the pathogenesis role of endogenous retroviruses (ERVs) in pediatric AML,” $50,000
  • Leighton “Lee” Grimes, PhD, “Functionalizing novel mutations underlying health disparities in AML,” $50,000
  • Ashley Cochran, PhD, “A novel therapeutic strategy for treating death-resistant leukemic cells,” $50,000
  • Tafadzwa Chihanga, PhD, “Targeting a novel HPV-induced epithelial compartment to prevent viral infection and carcinogenesis,” $50,000
  • Zaili Luo, PhD, “Novel chimeric antigen receptor T-cell immunotherapy for diffuse midline gliomas,” $50,000
  • Yuan Lin, “Aberrant RhoA signaling in pediatric Burkitt’s Lymphoma as a drug target,” $50,000
  • Laura Ramsey, PhD, “Using methotrexate pharmacogenomics to remedy racial and ethnic disparities in childhood cancer treatment,” $50,000
  • Linde Miles, PhD, “Delineation of clonotype-immunophenotype relationships in pediatric myeloid leukemias,” $50,000
  • Nawal Merjaneh, MD, “The sequential treatment of RCM-1 and anti-apoptotic BCL2 family protein inhibitors in rhabdomyosarcoma,” $50,000
  • Lynn Lee, MD, “Target discovery with forward CRISPR genomic screens in leukemia xenografts,” $50,000

Read more about how CancerFree KIDS supports cancer research

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