Rally Foundation Awards a Record $7M in Grants to 94 Childhood Cancer Researchers

In 2026, Rally Foundation for Childhood Cancer Research is thrilled to award a total of $7 million in childhood cancer research grants to 94 researchers across 48 institutions worldwide. This is the foundation’s largest award value to be distributed since its founding in 2005, bringing the total awarded to $47.5 million.

Rally Foundation proudly funds the best and the brightest researchers, seeking the most innovative and promising research. This year’s awards include 84 grants given to 18 Postdoctoral and Clinical Research Fellows, 13 Young Investigators, 14 Career Development Awards, 24 Independent Investigators, 10 Consortiums and three Outside the Box.  Plus, our 20/20: Alumni Visionary Grants, an additional 10 awards that celebrate Rally’s 20th anniversary of advancing research and driving discoveries.

“This is the highest amount we have been able to award in one year,” says Dean Crowe, founder and CEO. “In 2026, we were delighted by the significant increase in funds raised thanks to our grassroot supporters, special events and incredibly generous corporate donors. For 20 years, our mission has spoken to all. Rally empowers volunteers and funds the best research wherever it may be to help find better childhood cancer treatments with fewer long-term side effects and, ultimately, cures.”

Rally grants are awarded based on a competitive dual peer-review process conducted by the Rally Medical Advisory Board, an international team of leading childhood cancer experts. The grants fund all levels of research, from science at the bench to translational, and they include fellows, young investigators and independent investigators.

Other childhood cancer organizations are encouraged by Rally to collaborate and co-fund research projects, and Rally also successfully administers A Collaborative Pediatric Cancer Research Awards Program to streamline the application process for researchers and foundations. Organizations that were part of this year’s collaboration include Arms Wide Open Childhood Cancer Foundation, Infinite Love for Kids Fighting Cancer, Mighty Millie Foundation, Blood Cancer United, and the Osteosarcoma Institute.

“We are so grateful to all who have taken the #RallyFit47 Challenge, attended a Rally signature event like Rally On the Runway or the annual Rally Benefit Bash, collected change through 4 Quarters 4 Research, asked for donations in lieu of birthday gifts or made charitable gifts to Rally through any of our programs,” said Crowe. “Every dollar matters. It could just be that dollar that finds the cure!”

Those supporters are assured that their donations will have a significant impact, with 93 cents of every dollar going directly toward supporting Rally’s mission. Rally has received a perfect score of 100 four consecutive times from Charity Navigator for its financial health and transparency and is on track to receive another perfect score.

 

20/20: Alumni Visionary Grants 

• The University of Michigan: Mark Chiang, M.D., Ph.D., for Targeting Newly Defined Pediatric ETP Leukemia with MYB Splicing Inhibitors
• Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center: Eric Chow, M.D., for Enhancing Cardiomyopathy Identification in Cancer Survivors
• Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine: Robyn Gartrell, M.D., for Effect of Radiation Dose Rate on Epigenetic and Immune Response in DMG
• Massachusetts General Hospital: David Langenau, Ph.D., for Therapeutic Targeting of Rhabdomyosarcoma
• Albert Einstein College of Medicine: David Loeb, M.D., Ph.D., for Targeting Arginine Metabolism to Treat Ewing Sarcoma
• The University of California, San Francisco: Amanda Marinoff, M.D., for Accelerating Translation: Risk and Resistance Biomarkers in Osteosarcoma
• Augusta University: David Munn, M.D., for Creating de novo Checkpoint Responsiveness in Pediatric Brain Tumors
• The University of Michigan: John Prensner, M.D., Ph.D., for Defining a Clinical Path for the Dark Proteome in Medulloblastoma
• Emory University: Renee Read, Ph.D., for Synergizing Innate and Adaptive Immunity for High Grade Glioma Therapy
• Baylor College of Medicine: Tamra Werbowetski-Ogilvie, Ph.D., for Identifying New Therapeutic Targets for Group 3 Medulloblastoma Metastasis

 

Rally Career Development Awards

Funded by Rally Foundation

• The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia: Anand Bhagwat, M.D., Ph.D., for Novel Mechanisms of Acute Myeloid Leukemia Resistance to Cell Therapy
• Beckman Research Institute of the City of Hope: Rusha Bhandari, M.D., for Social Determinants of Health and Aging in Childhood Cancer Survivors
• Seattle Children’s Hospital: Catherine Carbone, Ph.D., for Rewiring Neuroblastoma Immune Circuits With Tumor Arrays
• The Hospital for Sick Children: Anirban Das, D.M., for Designing Biomarker-Guided Precision Trials for RRD Gliomas
• Dana-Farber Cancer Institute: Ulrike Gerdemann, M.D., for Overexpression of CD226 to Improve CAR-T Therapy for Pediatric CNS Tumors
• Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center: Courtney Jones, Ph.D., for Targeting Metabolic Vulnerabilities in Pediatric Acute Myeloid Leukemia
• Baylor College of Medicine: Sujith Joseph, Ph.D., for Targeting High-Risk Medulloblastoma Using Locally-delivered Endoglin CAR-T
• Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine: Michael Koldobskiy, M.D., Ph.D., for Exploiting Epigenetic Vulnerabilities to Enable Immunotherapy for DMG
• Medical University of South Carolina: Casey Langdon, Ph.D., for Converging on AKT and XPO1 to Combat Ewing Sarcoma
• Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis: Yang Li, Ph.D., for Single-cell Multimodal Omic Analyses of Epigenetic Dysregulation in pHGGs
• University of Alabama at Birmingham: Zaili Luo, Ph.D., for Targeting GABAergic Lineage Hijacking in Aggressive Medulloblastoma
• The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia: Susan McClory, M.D., Ph.D., for Immunologic Characteristics of Successful CAR T Cell Therapy
• Medical University of South Carolina: Christin Schmidt, Ph.D., for Human Unipolar Brush Cells as Cell-of-Origin for Group 4 Medulloblastoma
• The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center: Tao Yue, Ph.D., for Leveraging the Immune System for the Treatment of Metastatic Osteosarcoma

 

Outside The Box Grants

Funded by Rally Foundation

• The University of Chicago: Mark Applebaum, M.D., for Rapid Histologic Classification of Neuroblastoma With AI
• The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia: Cassie Kline, M.D., for Understanding the Microbiome Role in Pediatric CNS Tumors
• Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center: Meghan McGrady, Ph.D., for Harnessing Health Information Technology to Support Adherence Care

 

Brain and Central Nervous System Cancers

Funded by Rally Foundation

• Baylor College of Medicine: Mohammad Abu Arja, M.D., for Targeting the Neurovascular Niche in Group 3 Medulloblastoma
• Dana-Farber Cancer Institute: Narmen Azazmeh, Ph.D., for Mannosylation-Driven Myeloid Activity in KIAA-BRAF Pilocytic Astrocytomas
• Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai: Oren Becher, M.D., for HBEGF as a Novel Therapeutic Target in Diffuse Midline Glioma
• The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia: Kristopher Bosse, M.D., for Development of GPC2 CAR T Cells for Pediatric CNS Tumors
• Georgia Tech Research Corporation: Rafael Davalos, Ph.D., for Robotic Electroporation for Targeted Ablation and BBB Disruption
• Murdoch Children’s Research Institute: David Eisenstat, M.D., for Developmental Targeting the Cell-of-Origin of Pediatric High Grade Glioma
• The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center: Amr Elgehiny, M.D., for Combining RNF2 Inhibition and Oncolytic HSV for Pediatric High-Grade Glioma
• Children’s Hospital Los Angeles: Anat Erdreich-Epstein, M.D., Ph.D. for Immune Targets Uncovered by DNA Hypomethylation in H3K27M Pediatric Glioma
• The University of California, San Francisco: Winson Ho, M.D., for Targeting PP2A in Medulloblastoma Using Lipid Nanoparticle
• Institute Curie: Elaine Piaggio, Ph.D., for Optimizing Immunotherapies for Rhabdoid Tumors
• The University of Michigan: Cristian Valls, Ph.D., for Defining Therapeutic Targets in the Medulloblastoma Dark Proteome
• University of Florida: Christina von Roemeling, Ph.D., for Focused Ultrasound Delivery of Personalized Nanoparticle Vaccines for Brain Tumors
• University of Colorado Denver: Dong Wang, Ph.D., for Mediator Kinase CDK8 is a Therapeutic Target in MYC-driven Medulloblastoma
• The Hospital for Sick Children: Anthony Pak Yin Liu, MBBS, for Clinical Utility of Liquid Biopsy for CNS Germ Cell Tumors

 

Co-funded by Rally Foundation and a Collaborative Partner

• Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine: Challice Bonifant, M.D., Ph.D., for B7-H3/CAR NK Cells as Therapy for Pediatric Brain Cancer, co-funded by Rally Foundation and Arms Wide Open Childhood Cancer Foundation
• Massachusetts General Hospital: Andrew Elia, M.D., Ph.D., for Targeting DNA Repair to Rescue CAR-T Exhaustion in Diffuse Midline Glioma, co-funded by Rally Foundation and Arms Wide Open Childhood Cancer Foundation

 

Blood Cancers

Funded by Rally Foundation

• Blood Cancer United for Real World Evidence Project: Changing the Paradigm for Pediatric AML Clinical Trials
• The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center: Michalis Agathocleous, Ph.D., for Discovery of a Metabolic Vulnerability in Pediatric T-ALL
• New York University Grossman School of Medicine: Juan Balandrán, Ph.D., for Investigating Therapeutic Avenues to Prevent Antigenic Escape in B-ALL
• The Hospital for Sick Children: Grace Egan, Ph.D., for Targeting Ribosome Biogenesis in Childhood, Adolescent and Young Adult AML
• University of Rochester: Jamie Flerlage, M.D., for Global NLPHL One Working Group (GLOW) Consortium Clinical Trial
• Children’s Hospital Los Angeles: Brittany Ivory, M.D., for a Two-Part Clinical Trial to Reduce Sedentary Time in Early AYAs With ALL
• The Research Institute at Nationwide Children’s Hospital: Margaret Lamb, M.D., for CD33 CAR NK for Relapsed Refractory Pediatric AML
• NYU Grossman School of Medicine: Mingjun Liu, Ph.D., for Impacts of UBTF Tandem Duplication on Pediatric Acute Myeloid Leukemia
• Emory University: Tamara Miller, M.D., for Evaluation of Blinatumomab-Associated Immune and Infectious Complications
• Emory University: Christopher Porter, M.D., for Siglec15 Promotes Ineffective Emergency Myelopoiesis in B ALL
• Emory University: Sunil Raikar, M.D., for Bioengineering a Novel Humanized l-asparaginase with Reduced Toxicity
• Columbia University: Liora Schultz, M.D., for Leveraging Machine Learning to Unmask Drivers of CAR T Cell Persistence
• Beckman Research Institute of the City of Hope: Srividya Swaminathan, Ph.D., for Designing Natural Killer Cells as Living Drugs for High-risk Pediatric ALL
• Ospedale Pediatrico Bambino Gesù: Enrico Velardi, Ph.D., for Regeneration of Thymic Function to Enhance Cancer Immunotherapy

 

Co-Funded by Rally Foundation and a Collaborative Partner

• Temple University: Jorge Gomez Deza, Ph.D., for Targeting Neuron Stress Pathways to Prevent CIPN in Kids, co-funded by Rally Foundation and Arms Wide Open Childhood Cancer Foundation
• Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine: Margarita Dionysiou, M.D., for Harnessing miR-21 to Enhance Allogeneic Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation, co-funded by Rally Foundation and Arms Wide Open Childhood Cancer Foundation
• Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine: Yiouli Panayiota Ktena, M.D., for Pharmacologic CCR9 Inhibition to Mitigate Graft-vs-Host Disease, co-funded by Rally Foundation and Infinite Love for Kids Fighting Cancer

 

Solid Tumors

Funded by Rally Foundation

• The Osteosarcoma Institute for Break Through Cancer Defying Osteosarcoma TeamLab
• Case Western Reserve University: Yuan Gao, Ph.D., for Flip the Switch: Lipid Control of ETV6 in Ewing Sarcoma
• Baylor College of Medicine: Julie Gastier-Foster, Ph.D., for Pediatric Sarcoma Diagnoses in LMICs: Can Gene Fusion Testing Leapfrog IHC?
• The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia: Amber Hamilton, Ph.D., for Developing GFRA2 as an Optimal Immunotherapeutic Target for NB and EWS
• St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital: Mark Hatley, M.D., Ph.D., for Dissection and Targeting NET Release in DICER1 Cancer Predisposition
• National Institute of Health and Medical Research (INSERM): Xiaofan Lu, Ph.D., for Molecular Underpinnings of Translocation Renal Cell Carcinomas
• National Cancer Institute, Center for Cancer Research: David Milewski, Ph.D., for Harnessing Epigenetic Therapy for Next-Generation T Cell Immunotherapy
• Emory University: Sijia Tang, Ph.D., for Elucidating the Role and Therapy Response of LBX1 in Wilms Tumor
• Yale University: Juan Vasquez, M.D., for CBX12 in Pediatric Solid Tumors
• University of Colorado Denver: Michael Verneris, M.D., for When CAR T Cells Fall Short
• Duke University School of Medicine: Greg Wang, Ph.D., for Targeting Epigenetic Dependency as Treatment of Childhood Synovial Sarcoma
• Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine: Lindy Zhang, M.D., Ph.D., for Evaluating the Combination of Targeted Therapies and Immunotherapy in MPNST

 

Co-funded by Rally Foundation and a Collaborative Partner

• The University of Chicago: Nada Aboelella, Ph.D., for BCL-2 Drugging to Enhance Anti-GD2-CAR T Cell Therapy Against Neuroblastoma, co-funded by Rally Foundation and Infinite Love for Kids Fighting Cancer
• University of Colorado Denver: Joselyn Cruz Cruz, Ph.D., for Enhancing CAR-T Cell Efficacy With Cabozantinib in Rhabdomyosarcoma, co-funded by Rally Foundation and Infinite Love for Kids Fighting Cancer
• Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis: Angela Hirbe, M.D., Ph.D., for Defining the Surfaceome of EWSR1-KLF15 Myoepithelial Carcinoma, co-funded by Rally Foundation and cureMEC
• Duke University School of Medicine: Ara Jo, Ph.D., for Mechanistic and Therapeutic Study of lncRNA KCNQ1OT1-P3F Axis in FP-RMS, co-funded by Rally Foundation and Infinite Love for Kids Fighting Cancer
• Purdue University: Nathaniel Mabe, Pharm.D., Ph.D., for Targeting the TRIM28-SETDB1 Axis to Enhance Anti-GD2 Therapy in EWS, co-funded by Rally Foundation and Infinite Love for Kids Fighting Cancer
• National Cancer Institute, Center for Cancer Research: Jun Wei, Ph.D., for Optimization of Humanized anti-FGFR4-exatecan ADC for Clinical Translation, co-funded by Rally Foundation and Mighty Mille Foundation

 

Mixed Brain/CNS, Solid Tumor, and Blood Cancers

Funded by Rally Foundation

• Uganda Child Cancer Foundation: Racheal Angom, MMED, for Enhancing Pediatric Cancer Care in Uganda with UCI-Ped-Reg and UCI-Ped-DASH
• The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia: Yingshi Chen, Ph.D., for Leveraging NF-kB Programs to Enhance CAR T Cells for Pediatric Cancer
• Dana-Farber Cancer Institute: Brian Crompton, M.D., for Development of a Liquid Biopsy Multi-cancer Detection Assay for Pediatrics
• Children’s Hospital Los Angeles: Laura Kagami, M.D., for Development of a Comprehensive Liquid Biopsy Assay for Pediatric Oncology
• The Hospital for Sick Children: Anita Villani, M.D., for Consortium for Childhood Cancer Predisposition
• Virginia Commonwealth University Health: Jia-Ray Yu, Ph.D., for Target the H3K36me2 Pathway in Pediatric Cancers

 

Co-funded by Rally Foundation and a Collaborative Partner

• The University of California, San Francisco: Geoffrey Cheng, M.D., for Biology of Diffuse Alveolar Hemorrhage in Stem Cell Transplant Recipients, co-funded by Rally Foundation and Infinite Love for Kids Fighting Cancer

 

Survivorship / Quality of Life / Psychosocial

Funded by Rally Foundation

• Emory University: Brooke Cherven, Ph.D., for Reproductive Health Outcomes in Childhood Cancer Survivors
• University of Alabama at Birmingham: Emily Johnston, M.D., for Addressing Parent’s Educational Deficits at End-of-Life
• Emory University: Jordan Marchak, Ph.D., for Implementing Anxiety & Depression Screening for YA Survivors
• University of Washington: Melissa Martos, M.D., for Diagnostic Communication and Outcomes by Language in Pediatric Oncology
• Dana-Farber Cancer Institute: Adam René Rosenbaum, M.D., for Trust in Pediatric Cancer: A Mixed-Method, Cross-Sectional Study
• Michigan State University: Courtney E. Sullivan, Ph.D., for Cross-Cultural Validation of a Pediatric Cancer Nursing Quality System
• Vanderbilt University Medical Center: Molly Talman, M.D., for Scaling Survivorship: AI-Assisted Care Plans for Childhood Cancer Survivors
• The University of Chicago: Samuel Volchenboum, M.D., Ph.D., for Reproductive Health Outcomes Preservation and Evaluation Collaborative