How Rally’s Early Support Helped Launch a Surgeon’s Mission to Defeat Childhood Cancer

When Eric Rellinger, M.D., was training to become a surgeon at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, he became fascinated by how cancer cells survive. He realized that cancers keep growing because they constantly demand more building blocks inside the body, helping them resist treatments that are meant to stop them.

His first research project studied special enzymes called NADPH oxidases in neuroblastoma, a very aggressive type of childhood cancer. These enzymes help produce molecules that give tumor cells energy to survive. His work led to several scientific publications in journals such as Surgery and Oncotarget, exploring how cancer cells use oxygen and energy to keep growing.

After completing his training, Dr. Rellinger decided to specialize in pediatric surgery, caring for children with cancer. He saw firsthand how some children’s cancers returned even after the toughest treatments. He knew surgery alone wasn’t enough. That’s when he decided to open his own research lab at the University of Kentucky to look for new ways to stop neuroblastoma.

Rally Foundation’s early funding in 2015 and 2016 gave him the courage, confidence and skills to take that next step. With that support, Dr. Rellinger was able to start a research career that has now earned larger funding from the American Cancer Society, American Pediatric Surgery Association, and the V Foundation.

Today, his lab focuses on finding weak points in cancer cell metabolism, the processes that help tumor cells grow, so doctors can target and stop them. He also mentors students and young doctors who want to join the fight against childhood cancer.

Later this year, his team plans to apply for a major grant from the National Institutes of Health to continue the discoveries that began with Rally’s early investment.

“Rally didn’t just fund a project,” he says. “They helped launch my career.”

This is why early-stage research funding matters.

This is the power of philanthropic seed investing.

This is Rally.