The Power of Starting Early: How One Grant Sparked Lifesaving Leukemia Discoveries

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. 

After finishing her fellowship, Dr. Heath moved to the University of Vermont, where she now leads her own lab. Her team studies a rare type of leukemia caused by a genetic mix-up called a CALM-AF10 translocation. This happens when two genes accidentally swap parts, creating a faulty gene that helps cancer grow. 

Her research shows that CALM-AF10 changes where important proteins live inside leukemia cells. These changes can affect how the cancer behaves. Most recently, her team studied a protein called CXCR4, which helps leukemia cells move. While blocking CXCR4 did not kill the cancer cells, it slowed them down. That matters because how leukemia cells move and where they live in the bone marrow can affect how well chemotherapy works. 

Rally’s early investment also helped Dr. Heath grow as a leader. Today, she serves as Vice Chair for Research in Pediatrics and Associate Director of Clinical and Translational Research at the University of Vermont Cancer Center. She has trained many students who are now continuing cancer research of their own. 

Because Rally believed early, new ideas took root. Because Rally invested early, a young researcher became a leader. And because Rally continues to fund bold science, children with cancer have more hope for the future. 

This is why early-stage research funding matters.
This is the power of philanthropic seed investing.
This is Rally.