From Seed Funding to Saving Lives: The Story of the Pediatric Immunotherapy Program

In 2015, David H. Munn, M.D., and Theodore S. Johnson, M.D., Ph.D., at Augusta University and Children’s Hospital of Georgia started something special. Together, they created the Pediatric Immunotherapy Program to help children with brain cancer who had run out of treatment options.

The program was designed for families when they had nowhere else to turn. Kids from across the country come to receive experimental immunotherapy treatments that are not available in most hospitals.

Dr. Munn and Dr. Johnson use a medicine called indoximod to help the immune system fight brain cancer. Their goal is not just to help children live longer, but also to help them feel better and keep doing everyday things like playing, learning and being with family.

Over the past 10 years, more than 260 children and young adults from over 30 states have received care through the Pediatric Immunotherapy Program.

Rally Foundation for Childhood Cancer Research funding helped launch a Phase 2 clinical trial using indoximod along with chemotherapy, radiation or both. More than 120 children joined this study, which is now nearing completion. The results have been shared at major medical conferences, giving hope to doctors and families everywhere.

Since 2023, Rally Foundation has also supported a new Phase 1 clinical trial testing whether adding a second immunotherapy drug called ibrutinib can help children whose cancer stopped responding to treatment. Thanks to Rally, the first 14 patients are already enrolled, and researchers are learning how to better track each child’s immune response during therapy.

Because Rally believed early, this program exists. Because Rally invested early, families found hope. And because Rally continues to support this work, children facing brain cancer have more chances today than ever before.

This is why early-stage research funding matters.

This is the power of philanthropic seed investing.

This is Rally.