$3.3 Million of Good News

Could you use some good news? We have some good news. Actually, we have some GREAT news!

Rally Foundation for Childhood Cancer Research just awarded $3.3 million in childhood cancer research grants. This is our largest single-year commitment and brings Rally Foundation’s awarded total to $20 million to find better treatments with fewer long-term side effects and, ultimately, cures.

Thank you to our supporters who made these grants possible. Thank you to the Rally Medical Advisory Board who vetted close to 125 full applications. Thank you to our partners in the Collaborative Pediatric Cancer Research Awards Program (The Truth 365, Open Hands Overflowing Hearts, Infinite Love for Kids Fighting Cancer, Luke Tatsu Johnson Foundation, Batcole Foundation, Leukemia and Lymphoma Society and CureSearch for Children’s Cancer) who are like-minded foundations working together to co-fund projects to ensure we are each able to fund the best childhood cancer research. Together we are all making a difference and giving hope to families who are battling the childhood cancer beast.

The $3.3 million totaled 59 individual grant awards. Each application was vetted by the Rally Medical Advisory Board through our rigorous dual peer-review process. We are proud to be funding the best and the brightest researchers. This year’s 59 awardees include 48 new grants and 11 continuation grants; 2 career development awards, 6 consortiums, 34 independent investigators, 8 young investigators and 9 fellows; and 54 grants in the U.S., 2 in Canada, 2 in Italy and 1 in Taiwan.

 

Blood Cancers

Funded by Rally Foundation:

• The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia: Dr. Bagashev for novel therapeutic targets in TCF3-HLF childhood ALL
• The University of Michigan: Dr. Chiang for the Ets1-dependent MYB enhancer in T-ALL
• The University of California, San Francisco: Dr. Huang for duplex sequencing for minimal residual disease detection in AML
• The University of Pennsylvania: Dr. Hurtz for targeting activated signaling pathways in pediatric KMT2A-rearranged ALL
• The University of Florida: Dr. Li for the role of NSD2 mutation in therapy resistance in childhood ALL
• Baylor College of Medicine: Dr. Rau for overcoming cell-intrinsic chemoresistance in IKZF1-deleted B-ALL
• The University of Alabama at Birmingham: Dr. Wolfson for understanding outcome disparities in AYA with ALL
• Health Research Incorporated, Roswell Park Cancer Institute Division: Dr. Yao for genetic basis for ethnic disparities of bone toxicities in pediatric ALL

Co-Funded by the Collaborative:

• New York Medical College: Dr. Cairo for combinatorial targeted and humoral cellular immunotherapy in Burkitt lymphoma, funded by Infinite Love for Kids Fighting Cancer
• Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute: Dr. Deshpande for targeting self-renewal in pediatric leukemia, co-funded by Rally Foundation and the Luke Tatsu Johnson Foundation
• The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia: Dr. Felix for preclinical development of EIF4E inhibitor Ribavirin for pediatric AML, co-funded by The Truth 365 and the Luke Tatsu Johnson Foundation
• Beckman Research Institute of the City of Hope: Dr. He for targeting PRMT9 in pediatric FLT3-ITD positive AML, co-funded by The Truth 365 and Open Hands Overflowing Hearts
• The University of California, San Francisco: Dr. Hermiston for gene expression signature that predicts MRD status in pediatric T-ALL, co-funded by Rally Foundation and the Luke Tatsu Johnson Foundation
• Dana-Farber Cancer Institute: Dr. Stegmaier for advancing new therapeutic strategies for pediatric acute leukemias, co-funded by Rally Foundation and the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society
• Yale University: Dr. Su for molecular mechanism of chimeric antigen receptor signaling, co-funded by Rally Foundation and Infinite Love for Kids Fighting Cancer

 

Brain and Central Nervous System Cancers

Funded by Rally Foundation:

• The Hospital for Sick Children: Dr. Abeysundara for targeting the metastatic microenvironment to treat pediatric cancer
• Beckman Research Institute at the City of Hope: Dr. Aboody for enhancement of endogenous immunity using CRAD-SPk7 oncolytic virotherapy
• Baylor College of Medicine: Dr. Bertrand for viral mimicry as a therapeutic vulnerability in H3K27M glioma
• The Children’s Hospital, Los Angeles: Dr. Erdreich-Epstein for dissecting PID1’s growth-suppressive domain in medulloblastoma
• The University of Alabama at Birmingham: Dr. Friedman for maximizing the anti-tumor immune response from HSV immunovirotherapy
• Northwestern University – Chicago Campus: Dr. Hashizume for targeted inhibition of EZH2 and BET BRD4 for the treatment of AT/RT
• The University of Wisconsin-Madison: Dr. Lewis for identifying synthetic vulnerabilities in aggressive pediatric ependymomas
• The University of Padova: Dr. Persano for modeling medulloblastoma resistance as a new tool for drug identification
• The Medical University of South Carolina: Dr. Rodriguez-Blanco for identifying novel therapeutics for high risk medulloblastoma patients
• The University of Alabama at Birmingham: Dr. Totsch for enhancement of oncolytic virotherapy with tumor vaccination
• The University of Manitoba: Dr. Werbowetski-Ogilvie for novel combinatory therapies for SHH medulloblastoma

Co-funded by the Collaborative:

• The University of Texas at Austin: Dr. Ho for PP2A inhibition in natural-killer cell immunotherapy for medulloblastoma, co-funded by Rally Foundation and The Truth 365
• The University of Florida: Dr. von Roemeling for the STAT3 inhibitor LLL12B regulates immune activation in medulloblastoma, co-funded by Rally Foundation and The Truth 365
• The University of Florida: Dr. Sayour for RNA nanoparticle vaccines for pediatric high-grade glioma, co-funded by Rally Foundation and CureSearch for Children’s Cancer
• Dana-Farber Cancer Institute: Dr. Straehla for engineered nanoparticles to improve drug delivery to high grade gliomas, co-funded by Rally Foundation and The Truth 365

 

Solid Tumors

Funded by Rally Foundation:

• Dana-Farber Cancer Institute: Dr. Crompton for targeting kinase signaling in preclinical models of Ewing’s sarcoma
• Dana-Farber Cancer Institute: Dr. Guenther for investigating synergistic combinations with PARP inhibitors in osteosarcoma
• Dana-Farber Cancer Institute: Dr. Guenther for in vivo CRISPR screening for novel target identification in osteosarcoma
• Emory University: Dr. Jonus for optimizing allogeneic gamma delta T cellular therapy for neuroblastoma
• Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center: Dr. Kinnaman for tracking the origins and drivers of metastatic expansion in osteosarcoma
• China Medical University: Dr. Li for PRMT1 as a therapeutic target in neuroblastoma
• The University of Florida: Dr. Sayour for immunotherapeutic targeting of osteosarcoma with nanoparticle vaccines
• The University of California, San Francisco: Dr. Schott for micronuclei, STING, and ENPP1 in the regulation of osteosarcoma metastasis
• The Rockefeller University: Dr. Simon for the effect of oncogenic kinase on liver cells in fibrolamellar
• St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital: Dr. Talbot for enhancing CAR T-cell efficacy in osteosarcoma by driving chemokine-mediated homing
• Dana-Farber Cancer Institute: Dr. Viswanathan for targeting TFE3 fusions in Xp11.2 translocation renal cell carcinoma
• The University of Chicago: Dr. Volchenboum for building the osteosarcoma data commons
• Vanderbilt University: Dr. Weissmiller for understanding and inhibiting MYC function in rhabdoid tumors
• UT Southwestern Medical Center: Dr. Xu for developing synergistic drug combinations as new therapies to treat rhabdomyosarcoma

Co-funded by the Collaborative:

• University’ Degli Studi Dr Brescia: Dr. Fanzani for targeting Caveolin-1 in embryonal rhabdomyosarcoma, funded by Infinite Love for Kids Fighting Cancer
• St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital: Dr. Hatley for mechanistic dissection of DICER1 syndrome, co-funded by Rally Foundation and Open Hands Overflowing Hearts
• Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center: Dr. Miltiadous for microbiome evolution in neuroblastoma patients undergoing cancer therapy, funded by Batcole Foundation
• Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center: Dr. Sanghvi for understanding and blocking NRF2 oncoprotein in hepatoblastoma, co-funded by Rally Foundation and Infinite Love for Kids Fighting Cancer
• Dana-Farber Cancer Institute: Dr. Sengupta for epigenetic mechanisms underlying immune evasion in neuroblastoma, co-funded by Rally Foundation and Infinite Love for Kids Fighting Cancer
• University of Kentucky Research Foundation: Dr. Sun for novel antibody-enzyme fusion therapy targeting Ewing’s sarcoma, co-funded by Rally Foundation and The Truth 365
• Baylor College of Medicine: Dr. Wang for RECQL4 and replication stress-induced genome instability in osteosarcoma, co-funded by Rally Foundation and Open Hands Overflowing Hearts
• Baylor College of Medicine: Dr. Yustein for dissecting and targeting the WNT pathway in metastatic osteosarcoma, co-funded by Rally Foundation and Infinite Love for Kids Fighting Cancer
• Emory University: Dr. Zhou for discovery and development of a new MYCN inhibitor MX69-61, co-funded by Rally Foundation and Infinite Love for Kids Fighting Cancer

 

All Cancers

Funded by Rally Foundation:

• The Children’s Oncology Group Foundation: Project:EveryChild-Registry, Eligibility Screening, Biology & Outcome Study

 

Palliative Care

Funded by Rally Foundation:

• Emory University: Dr. Brock for development and pilot of a telehealth hospice transition intervention

 

Survivorship

Funded by Rally Foundation:

• The University of Alabama at Birmingham: Dr. Bhatia for enhancing 6MP adherence in adolescents with ALL: strategy for dissemination
• The Fibrolamellar Registry: Ms. Migler for patient-run medical registries for childhood cancers
• The University of Cincinnati: Dr. Reyes for scRNAseq to identify mechanisms of cognitive deficits in ALL survivors
• Anne and Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago: Dr. Sredni for a new neuroprotective co-therapy for children with brain tumors