St. Baldrick’s Foundation Awards Two Grants to Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center Researchers

October 27, 2011

Press Release
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Media Contact:
Traci Shirk
626-792-8247 ext. 50
Traci@stbaldricks.org

St. Baldrick’s Foundation Awards Two Grants to Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center Researchers

CINCINNATI (October 27, 2011) – It takes life-saving research to Conquer Kids’ Cancer! The St. Baldrick’s Foundation, a volunteer-driven charity dedicated to raising money for childhood cancer research, has awarded two grants to Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center researchers. Lionel Chow, M.D., Ph.D., received a $330,000 St. Baldrick’s Scholar award and Kathryn Wikenheiser-Brokamp, M.D., Ph.D., will lead a study funded by a $184,204 Consortium Research Grant.

Worldwide, more than 160,000 children are diagnosed with cancer each year, and it remains the leading cause of death by disease among children in the United States. With only 4 percent of all federal cancer research funding dedicated to pediatric cancer research, St. Baldrick’s Foundation grant funds are critical to continue the battle against this devastating disease.

Dr. Chow is one of nine new St. Baldrick’s Scholars in 2011, not including 10 scholars who were granted two-year extensions. His project will focus on brain tumors called high-grade gliomas (HGGs).

“Our current treatments for this disease are not effective and most patients succumb to their cancer,” Dr. Chow said. “We use genetic models in our laboratory to study the molecular signals responsible for the aggressive nature of HGGs. The St. Baldrick’s grant will allow us to identify and understand the interaction of these signals. This will lead to new approaches for treatment that can also be tested in the genetic models. We hope that our research will lead to more effective treatments for patients.”

The Consortium Research Grant will support a study titled Mechanisms Underlying DICER1 Suppression of Pleuropulmonary Blastoma. In collaboration with other institutions, it will focus on pleuropulmonary blastoma (PPB), a rare lung cancer in young children. Inherited genetic mutations have been recently identified in a gene known as DICER1 that predisposes children to developing PPB as well as other childhood tumors arising in the muscle, brain, ovaries and kidneys.

“Our team is dedicated to identifying the signals that cause childhood cancers with the hope of developing new ways to improve the lives of kids with cancer,” said Dr. Wikenheiser-Brokamp.

These grants are part of more than $19.6 million in new grants by the St. Baldrick’s Foundation, bringing the total to more than $21 million awarded for the fiscal year. All funding applications were peer-reviewed by leading pediatric cancer researchers who volunteer their time and expertise and make funding recommendations to the St. Baldrick’s Foundation’s board of directors. The Foundation’s next round of grants will be announced in November.

In 2011, more than 800 Ohio volunteers shaved their heads, raising more than $460,000 to help Conquer Kids’ Cancer! “We are very proud that our community has stepped forward in their efforts and joined with the St. Baldrick’s Foundation to find a cure,” said Mandy Knapp, volunteer event organizer of the Terry Henricks Chrysler-Dodge-Jeep Ohio event. “Our community just lost one girl to childhood cancer in July, and another child’s cancer has spread aggressively while she has been in treatment. We need a cure and we need it now. We cannot find a cure without research, and there can be no research without funding.”

St. Baldrick’s signature head-shaving events are the fastest growing, volunteer-driven fundraising opportunity benefitting childhood cancer research. In 2011, the Foundation’s volunteers and supporters have led the way to raising a record-breaking $27.4 million by organizing more than 1,000 St. Baldrick’s events and shaving more than 44,000 heads to stand in solidarity with kids with cancer.

Everyone can do their part to support St. Baldrick’s! To locate or organize an event in your community, sign-up to shave, donate or volunteer, visit www.StBaldricks.org. You can also become a fan on Facebook, follow us on Twitter, join our letsCONQUER movement and visit the Foundation’s YouTube and Vimeo channels.

About the St. Baldrick’s Foundation
The St. Baldrick’s Foundation is a volunteer-driven charity committed to funding the most promising research to find cures for childhood cancers and give survivors long and healthy lives. The Foundation funds more in childhood cancer research grants than any organization except the U.S. government. St. Baldrick’s funds are granted to some of the most brilliant childhood cancer research experts in the world and to younger professionals who will be the experts of tomorrow. Funds awarded also enable hundreds of local institutions to participate in national pediatric cancer clinical trials, a child’s best hope for a cure. Since the Foundation’s first grants as an independent charity in 2005, St. Baldrick’s has funded more than $76 million in childhood cancer research. For more information about the St. Baldrick’s Foundation please call 1.888.899.BALD or visit www.StBaldricks.org.

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