From Idea to Impact: How Rally’s Seed Funding Helped Dr. Christian Hurtz Make a Big Discovery

When kids get cancer, doctors and scientists work hard to find new and better treatments. But every big discovery starts with seed funding, the first crucial investment that helps scientists test bold ideas. That’s exactly what happened with Christian Hurtz, Ph.D.

Between 2019 and 2022, Rally Foundation for Childhood Cancer Research provided seed funding to support Dr. Hurtz’s research. This funding was a game-changer. During the COVID-19 pandemic, when many labs had to stop work, Rally Foundation’s seed investment allowed him to keep going. His work helped him earn a major grant from the National Cancer Institute and his first assistant professor job at Temple University.

With Rally’s support, Dr. Hurtz made a major discovery. His research showed that a protein called DYRK1A is key to the survival of a very tough type of childhood leukemia (KMT2A-rearranged acute lymphoblastic leukemia). Even better, he found that blocking DYRK1A makes cancer cells much weaker when treated with a drug called venetoclax, which is already FDA approved for other blood cancers. This new combo could help kids with high-risk leukemia live longer and with fewer side effects.

In 2023, Dr. Hurtz moved his lab to Loma Linda University to take this discovery even further, bringing it closer to clinical trials for kids who desperately need new options.

Dr. Hurtz says, “I’m so grateful to Rally Foundation for believing in me and my research. Their seed funding helped launch my career and bring us closer to safer, better treatments for kids.”

This is why early-stage research funding matters.

This is the power of philanthropic seed investing.

This is Rally.