The Power of Seed Funding: Dr. Kevin Bunting’s Breakthroughs in Pediatric AML Research
When we first met Kevin Bunting, Ph.D., from Emory University, we saw a scientist with big ideas and bold goals. His work focused on finding new ways to fight acute myeloid leukemia (AML), one of the most aggressive forms of childhood cancer. Rally Foundation for Childhood Cancer Research was the first organization to believe in his vision, providing seed funding for two early projects.
That early support helped Dr. Bunting and his team focus on a protein called STAT5. When STAT5 is activated, it helps leukemia cells change how they get energy and handle stress. These changes make the cancer stronger and harder to treat. Through this research, the team discovered that certain drugs such as imipramine blue and combinations like metformin with 6-benzylthioinosine can attack leukemia cells more effectively. Their findings were published in Scientific Reports and Leukemia Research, opening new doors for how AML can be treated.
From this Rally-funded work, Dr. Bunting also uncovered key differences between leukemia stem cells and regular leukemia cells. Most chemotherapy kills regular cells, but stem cells can survive and cause relapse. His team is now testing new drug combinations in preclinical studies using patient-derived models to see if these treatments can stop leukemia stem cells and improve survival rates for children with AML.
Building on our early investment, Dr. Bunting realized that studying leukemia at the single-cell level could reveal even more about how this disease behaves. By analyzing data from pediatric AML biorepositories, his team discovered specific “cell signatures” that may predict how aggressive a child’s cancer is and how it will respond to treatment. These findings connect directly back to his original Rally-supported work on how leukemia cells manage their internal balance.
Today, Dr. Bunting is developing single-cell tests that could help doctors quickly identify unique markers in leukemia stem cells. These tests could guide treatment decisions and help more children get the therapies that work best for them.
Rally donors made this possible. Your support helped spark discoveries that are bringing us closer to more effective treatments and better outcomes for kids with AML and for children fighting other cancers too.
This is why early-stage research funding matters.
This is the power of philanthropic seed investing.
This is Rally.