Outside The Box Grants Announcement 2024

Rally Awards $500,000 in Novel Grants to Eight Childhood Cancer Researchers

Rally Foundation for Childhood Cancer Research (Rally) awarded half a million dollars to eight researchers at seven different institutions for Outside the Box novel childhood cancer research ideas. These Outside the Box Grants provide seed funding for brand new ideas that directly address pediatric, adolescent and young adult rhabdomyosarcoma or osteosarcoma as well as red light therapy for neuropathy as a side effect of childhood cancer.

“Rally sees itself as philanthropic seed investors in the next great discovery — we like to invest early and are willing to take risks because these Outside the Box ideas may pave the way to finding better treatments and cures,” says Dean Crowe, Founder and CEO. Each grant was dual peer-reviewed and only the highest scoring applications received funding.

OUTSIDE THE BOX GRANTS: OSTEOSARCOMA

In February 2024, Rally brought together the next generation of osteosarcoma physicians and scientists to foster robust conversation and collaboration. The aim was to nurture the development of big, “outside the box” ideas to move the needle for kids fighting osteosarcoma. To continue to foster robust conversation and collaboration after the Think Tank, grant-supported research projects include at least two collaborating investigators from different institutions. As a result of that meeting, Rally is pleased to award two Outside the Box Grants focused on osteosarcoma.

• Dana-Farber Cancer Institute: Dr. James Morrow for driving osteosarcoma differentiation as a novel therapeutic approach, in collaboration with Dr. Eunice López Fuentes, University of California, San Francisco
• St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital: Dr. Lillian Guenther for clonal assessment of osteosarcoma metastasis, in collaboration with Dr. Isidro Cortes-Ciriano, EMBL-EBI UK

OUTSIDE THE BOX GRANTS: RED LIGHT THERAPY

• Yale University: Dr. Rozalyn Rodwin for chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy in childhood cancer survivors

OUTSIDE THE BOX GRANTS: RHABDOMYOSARCOMA

Funded by Rally Foundation

• St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital: Dr. Anand Patel for 3-dimensional biomimetic models of rhabdomyosarcoma
• The Hospital for Sick Children: Dr. Madeline Hayes for in vivo screening for inhibitors of metastatic rhabdomyosarcoma
• The University of Chicago: Dr. Xiaoyang Wu for development of a novel drug delivery platform for rhabdomyosarcoma

Rally is pleased to partner with Infinite Love for Kids Fighting Cancer for grants focused on rhabdomyosarcoma in this year’s competition.

Co-Funded by Rally Foundation and Infinite Love for Kids Fighting Cancer

• Children’s Cancer Therapy Development Institute: Dr. Charles Keller for FDA-approved FOXO1 agonist(s) to treat rhabdomyosarcoma
• University of California, San Franscisco: Dr. Amit Sabnis for combinations to exploit replication stress in PAX3-FOXO1 rhabdomyosarcoma