Rally’s Support Helped Spark New Discoveries in Childhood Leukemia Research

Daniel Lacorazza, Ph.D., a researcher at Baylor College of Medicine, received seed funding from Rally Foundation for Childhood Cancer Research between 2013 and 2015. That early support helped launch a series of important discoveries focused on the two most common types of childhood leukemia, acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) and acute myeloid leukemia (AML). 

With Rally Foundation’s support, they studied a natural compound called sulforaphane, found in vegetables like broccoli. Their research focused on how sulforaphane could be used in a lab setting to slow leukemia cell growth, an exciting step in drug discovery. 

To be clear: eating broccoli is not a treatment for cancer. Scientists use compounds like sulforaphane, found in broccoli, to help develop new medicines that are studied and tested extensively before use in patients. 

This promising result helped the team move from basic lab research to ideas that could actually help patients. 

Dr. Lacorazza’s lab began searching for small, drug-like compounds that could block specific parts of leukemia cells. One major breakthrough: they found that a protein called MAP2K7 is overly active in children with T-cell ALL. By blocking this protein, it might be possible to slow, or even stop, the cancer from growing. 

This strategy is called targeted therapy. Unlike traditional chemotherapy, which kills both healthy and cancerous cells, targeted therapy is designed to attack just the cancer cells, which may lead to fewer side effects for children. 

Thanks to the momentum from their Rally-funded work, Dr. Lacorazza’s team: 
– Published two scientific papers 
– Inspired follow-up studies by other researchers 
– Earned major grants from the National Cancer Institute and the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas 

“We’re incredibly thankful to Rally Foundation for helping us get started on this path to finding safer and more effective treatments for children with leukemia,” said Dr. Lacorazza. 

This is why early-stage research funding matters.

This is the power of philanthropic seed investing.

This is Rally.