Rally Announces $850,000 for Postdoctoral and Clinical Research Fellow Grants

Rally is thrilled to announce $850,000 awarded to our 2026 Postdoctoral and Clinical Research Fellow Grants!

At Rally, we know the future of pediatric cancer research lies in the hands of the next generation of researchers. Bright young minds work tirelessly to establish themselves as independent researchers in pediatric cancer. They push boundaries, seek new ideas and challenge the status quo, and Rally is here to support them.

Postdoctoral and clinical research fellows are in the early stages of their research careers, conducting cutting-edge studies under the mentorship of experienced scientists and physicians.

Meet the 2026 Postdoctoral and Clinical Research Fellow Grant recipients:

Brain and Central Nervous System Cancers

Funded By Rally Foundation

• Dana-Farber Cancer Institute: Narmen Azazmeh, Ph.D., for Mannosylation-Driven Myeloid Activity in KIAA-BRAF Pilocytic Astrocytomas
• The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center: Amr Elgehiny, M.D., for Combining RNF2 Inhibition and Oncolytic HSV for Pediatric High-Grade Glioma
• The University of Michigan: Cristian Valls, Ph.D., for Defining Therapeutic Targets in the Medulloblastoma Dark Proteome

Blood Cancers

Funded By Rally Foundation

• New York University Grossman School of Medicine: Juan Balandrán, Ph.D., for Investigating Therapeutic Avenues to Prevent Antigenic Escape in B-ALL
• Children’s Hospital Los Angeles: Brittany Ivory, M.D., for a Two-Part Clinical Trial to Reduce Sedentary Time in Early AYAs With ALL
• NYU Grossman School of Medicine: Mingjun Liu, Ph.D., for Impacts of UBTF Tandem Duplication on Pediatric Acute Myeloid Leukemia

Funded By Rally Foundation and a Collaborative Partner

• Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine: Margarita Dionysiou, M.D., for Harnessing miR-21 to Enhance Allogeneic Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation, co-funded by Rally Foundation and Arms Wide Open Childhood Cancer Foundation

Solid Tumors

Funded By Rally Foundation

• The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia: Amber Hamilton, Ph.D., for Developing GFRA2 as an Optimal Immunotherapeutic Target for NB and EWS
• National Institute of Health and Medical Research (INSERM): Xiaofan Lu, Ph.D., for Molecular Underpinnings of Translocation Renal Cell Carcinomas
• National Cancer Institute, Center for Cancer Research: David Milewski, Ph.D., for Harnessing Epigenetic Therapy for Next-Generation T Cell Immunotherapy
• Emory University: Sijia Tang, Ph.D., for Elucidating the Role and Therapy Response of LBX1 in Wilms Tumor

Funded By Rally Foundation and a Collaborative Partner

• The University of Chicago: Nada Aboelella, Ph.D., for BCL-2 Drugging to Enhance Anti-GD2-CAR T Cell Therapy Against Neuroblastoma, co-funded by Rally Foundation and Infinite Love for Kids Fighting Cancer
• University of Colorado Denver: Joselyn Cruz Cruz, Ph.D., for Enhancing CAR-T Cell Efficacy With Cabozantinib in Rhabdomyosarcoma, co-funded by Rally Foundation and Infinite Love for Kids Fighting Cancer
• Duke University School of Medicine: Ara Jo, Ph.D., for Mechanistic and Therapeutic Study of lncRNA KCNQ1OT1-P3F Axis in FP-RMS, co-funded by Rally Foundation and Infinite Love for Kids Fighting Cancer

Mixed Brain/CNS, Solid Tumor and Blood Cancers

Funded By Rally Foundation

• The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia: Yingshi Chen, Ph.D., for Leveraging NF-kB Programs to Enhance CAR T Cells for Pediatric Cancer
• Children’s Hospital Los Angeles: Laura Kagami, M.D., for Development of a Comprehensive Liquid Biopsy Assay for Pediatric Oncology

Quality of Life

Funded By Rally Foundation

• Dana-Farber Cancer Institute: Adam René Rosenbaum, M.D., for Trust in Pediatric Cancer: A Mixed-Method, Cross-Sectional Study