Rally Awards Most Grants Ever
Rally Foundation for Childhood Cancer Research Awards $4 Million in 2023 In 2023, Rally Foundation for Childhood Cancer Research (“Rally”) will award a total of $4 million to 57 researchers across 30 institutions worldwide – the largest number of childhood cancer research grants ever to be distributed since Rally was founded in 2005. “This brings the total amount of research funds that Rally has awarded to $29.4 million – and it is the highest amount we have been able to award in one year,” says Dean Crowe, Founder and CEO. “In 2022, we were delighted by the significant increase in funds raised thanks to our grassroot supporters, special events and incredibly generous corporate donors. Our mission speaks to all: to fund 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...
What Is CAR-T?
You may have heard of CAR T-cell therapy, also called CAR T, but what is it? It is an immunotherapy treatment that uses your child’s own immune cells, specifically the T-cells, to fight specific blood cancers. CAR-T can be a frontline treatment or an option if one or more treatments did not work, meaning the cancer is resistant to treatment, or if the cancer returned. Medical professionals do a blood draw to collect your child’s T-cells, a type of white blood cell. Then the T-cells are sent to a specialized lab where they are changed (genetically modified) into individualized CAR T cells with the goal of making them destroyers of the cancer. CAR stands for chimeric antigen receptor and that is what is attached to your child’s T cells and programmed to attack the cancer cells. It takes two to four weeks to make CAR T cells. The CAR T cells are then infused through an IV into your child...
What Is a Bone Marrow Transplant?
You just learned that your child has to have a bone marrow transplant. It sounds ominous. You have a lot of questions. Like, what exactly is bone marrow and what is a bone marrow transplant? Bone marrow is the soft, fatty tissue inside your bones. It creates red and white blood cells, as well as platelets. In addition, bone marrow contains immature blood-forming cells known as hematopoietic stem cells, or HSCs. These stem cells are unspecialized, and they can either remain stem cells or mature into different kinds of blood cells. A bone marrow transplant is a medical procedure that replaces bone marrow that has been damaged or destroyed by disease, infection, or chemotherapy. It involves transplanting healthy blood stem cells into the patient so that they can travel to the patient’s bone marrow where they start producing new blood cells and promote growth of new bone marrow. Healthy...
Rally Career Development Research Grant Award Update
An Update on the $300,000 Rally Career Development Award to Dr. Rodriguez-Blanco for Medulloblastoma Research In December 2022, Rally Foundation’s COO Reid Crowe presented a $300,000 Career Development Research Grant to Dr. Jezabel Rodriguez-Blanco, Ph.D. at the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC). Her research is focused on medulloblastoma, the most common pediatric brain tumor, with the goal of finding new novel therapeutics for this underserved group of patients. We sat down with Dr. Rodriguez-Blanco to see how her research was progressing. Excerpts of our interview with this brilliant childhood cancer researcher are below: What does it mean to your career to win the Rally Career Development Grant with the goal of expediting your research to obtain federal funding? The career development award I got from Rally was my first grant as an independent investigator. Early on,...
What Is a Lumbar Puncture? What is a Spinal Tap?
It’s scary enough to have your child diagnosed with cancer. But on top of that you hear all these new words and terms, which can be overwhelming, such as lumbar puncture or spinal tap. A lumbar procedure is the same thing as a spinal tap. It is a commonly performed procedure to diagnose and manage a variety of diseases including cancer. It is an invasive procedure used to collect the cerebral fluid that surrounds the brain and the spinal cord. A lumbar puncture/spinal tap may also be done to measure the pressure of the cerebrospinal fluid or to inject medicine, including chemotherapy, directly into the spinal cord and central nervous system. To prepare your child for a lumbar puncture/spinal tap, tell your child what to expect in the hospital and during the procedure. Ask your child’s healthcare team if you can stay with your child during the procedure, and if it’s OK to bring a...
Quick and Simple Fundraising Ideas
We are delighted that you are interested in fundraising ideas to help raise funds for kids fighting the cancer beast! Here are some great FUN(d)raising ideas for your business, elementary, middle or high school class, family group, scout troop, retail store, restaurant, church group or professional organization. Social Media: Set up a Facebook fundraiser for your birthday or anniversary, or in honor or memory of a loved one. Follow Rally on all our social channels: Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn. Group Activities: Participate in the #RallyFit 47 Challenge. Host a 5K Run/Walk, Talent Show, Dance-A-Thon or Cycle Ride. Have fun at a Grown-Up Field Day, Pickleball or Cornhole or Tennis. Tournament Rally 4 Quarters 4 Research – Set a goal and collect loose change. Schools, scout troops and youth groups love this one. Professional or Community Organizations: Organize a Craft/Art Fair like...
Rally Awards Most Grants Ever
Rally Foundation for Childhood Cancer Research Awards $4 Million in 2023 In 2023, Rally Foundation for Childhood Cancer Research (“Rally”) will award a total of $4 million to 57 researchers across 30 institutions worldwide – the largest number of childhood cancer research grants ever to be distributed since Rally was founded in 2005. “This brings the total amount of research funds that Rally has awarded to $29.4 million – and it is the highest amount we have been able to award in one year,”...
What Is CAR-T?
You may have heard of CAR T-cell therapy, also called CAR T, but what is it? It is an immunotherapy treatment that uses your child’s own immune cells, specifically the T-cells, to fight specific blood cancers. CAR-T can be a frontline treatment or an option if one or more treatments did not work, meaning the cancer is resistant to treatment, or if the cancer returned. Medical professionals do a blood draw to collect your child’s T-cells, a type of white blood cell. Then the T-cells are sent to...
What Is a Bone Marrow Transplant?
You just learned that your child has to have a bone marrow transplant. It sounds ominous. You have a lot of questions. Like, what exactly is bone marrow and what is a bone marrow transplant? Bone marrow is the soft, fatty tissue inside your bones. It creates red and white blood cells, as well as platelets. In addition, bone marrow contains immature blood-forming cells known as hematopoietic stem cells, or HSCs. These stem cells are unspecialized, and they can either remain stem cells or mature...
Rally Career Development Research Grant Award Update
An Update on the $300,000 Rally Career Development Award to Dr. Rodriguez-Blanco for Medulloblastoma Research In December 2022, Rally Foundation’s COO Reid Crowe presented a $300,000 Career Development Research Grant to Dr. Jezabel Rodriguez-Blanco, Ph.D. at the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC). Her research is focused on medulloblastoma, the most common pediatric brain tumor, with the goal of finding new novel therapeutics for this underserved group of patients. We sat down with...
What Is a Lumbar Puncture? What is a Spinal Tap?
It’s scary enough to have your child diagnosed with cancer. But on top of that you hear all these new words and terms, which can be overwhelming, such as lumbar puncture or spinal tap. A lumbar procedure is the same thing as a spinal tap. It is a commonly performed procedure to diagnose and manage a variety of diseases including cancer. It is an invasive procedure used to collect the cerebral fluid that surrounds the brain and the spinal cord. A lumbar puncture/spinal tap may also be done to...
Quick and Simple Fundraising Ideas
We are delighted that you are interested in fundraising ideas to help raise funds for kids fighting the cancer beast! Here are some great FUN(d)raising ideas for your business, elementary, middle or high school class, family group, scout troop, retail store, restaurant, church group or professional organization. Social Media: Set up a Facebook fundraiser for your birthday or anniversary, or in honor or memory of a loved one. Follow Rally on all our social channels: Facebook, Instagram and...