When traditional funding sources weren’t ready to support this high-risk idea, Rally Foundation for Childhood Cancer Research stepped in.  With Rally Foundation’s early funding, Dr. Mark Hatley and his team at St. Jude uncovered a surprising discovery in children with DICER1 cancer predisposition syndrome: A type of white blood cell called a neutrophil may actually help tumors form by releasing harmful web-like structures called neutrophil extracellular traps.  The team...

Rally Foundation’s early investment in Mark Chiang’s, M.D., Ph.D, lab at the University of Michigan helped generate the preliminary data needed to secure more than $7 million in funding from the National Institutes of Health and over a decade of continuous federal support.  Today, Dr. Chiang’s research is exploring a groundbreaking oral drug, RGT-61159, designed to stop cancer-driving proteins before they even form.  This work could open the door to safer, more targeted treatments for children...

In 2018, Muxiang Zhou, MD, at Emory University School of Medicine received early research funding from Rally Foundation for Childhood Cancer Research. That support helped launch discoveries that are bringing new hope to children with hard-to-treat cancers.  Dr. Zhou studies childhood cancer and searches for biomarkers, special clues in the body that show how cancer is growing. His work focuses on creating new medicines for kids with neuroblastoma and acute myeloid leukemia, especially when...

In 2015, Jessica Heath, M.D., at Duke University School of Medicine received early research funding from Rally Foundation for Childhood Cancer Research. That first grant helped launch her career and gave her the chance to study how leukemia begins.  Dr. Heath focused on a protein called CRM1. This protein normally helps cells work the right way. But in leukemia, CRM1 can help cancer grow. Rally’s early support gave her the freedom to ask big questions about how leukemia starts and spreads. ...

When kids are diagnosed with brain cancer, the treatments can be really tough. That’s why scientists are looking for new ways to help the body fight cancer. One of those scientists is Margarita Gutova, Ph.D., at City of Hope. Thanks to early support from the Rally Foundation for Childhood Cancer Research, Dr. Gutova was able to ask bold questions and explore new ideas.  Fighting Cancer With the Body’s Own Cells  Dr. Gutova studies advanced treatments like CAR T-cell therapy and stem cell...