St. Baldrick’s Foundation Grants a Total of $760,000 to Stanford University School of Medicine

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Traci Shirk
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St. Baldrick’s Foundation Grants a Total of $760,000 to Stanford University School of Medicine

PALO ALTO, Calif. (October 19, 2011) – It takes life-saving research to Conquer Kids’ Cancer! The St. Baldrick’s Foundation, a volunteer-driven charity dedicated to raising money for children’s cancer research, has awarded research grants to three researchers at Stanford University School of Medicine and Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital. Michael Wei M.D., Ph.D., and Yoon-Jae Cho, M.D., both received $330,000 St. Baldrick’s Scholar awards and Samuel Cheshier, M.D., Ph.D., was awarded a $100,000 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 three 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. Wei is one of nine new St. Baldrick’s Scholars in 2011, not including 10 scholars who were granted two-year extensions for their work. This study focuses on the role of non-coding RNA genes, key regulators of gene expression, in infant leukemias. Dr. Wei will use new sequencing technologies to discover and quantify these non-coding RNA genes and profile them to identify which genes are important in clinical outcome, also studying the biological role of the non-coding RNA genes in how leukemia develops. These studies will reveal new insights into the importance of the non-coding genome in infant leukemia and identify specific genes that can be targeted for therapy.

Dr. Cho’s Scholar award has been transferred from Children’s Hospital Boston to Stanford. His research will focus on medulloblastoma, the most common brain cancer in children. Currently, these children undergo surgery and aggressive radiation and chemotherapy, and still about 35 percent do not survive. Survivors are often left with permanent disabilities associated with learning, strength and coordination. There is a critical need for newer, more targeted therapies that will not only increase survival of patients but also prevent damage to the normal brain. The goal of Dr. Cho’s research is to identify the molecular factors that medulloblastoma relies on for growth and survival in order to develop new strategies that more effectively treat children diagnosed with this lethal disease.

“The support that St. Baldrick’s provides to early stage physician-scientists like myself is invaluable,” Dr. Cho said. “I am certain the work that comes out of the funding St. Baldrick’s is providing to my laboratory will lead directly to markedly improved therapies, if not cures, for medulloblastoma.”

Dr. Cheshier is one of 21 recipients to receive funding in the Research Grant category from the Foundation. His research focuses on diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma (DIPG) and medulloblastoma (MB). A new concept in cancer biology is the cancer stem cell hypothesis, which states that tumors are initiated and maintained by a small fraction of cells with stem cell-like properties. This hypothesis could explain many of the mysteries of cancer biology, one of them being the recurrence of the same tumor despite aggressive radiation and chemotherapy. This study uses a computer program called MiDReg with DIPG and MB tumor samples to learn more and ultimately develop safer and better treatments.

“The generous funding provided by the St. Baldrick’s Foundation will greatly enhance our ability to study the cellular organization of pediatric brain tumors,” said Dr. Cheshier. “Our work to identify new tumor cell markers will be used in pre-clinical models of pediatric brain tumors, where we hope it will help us to find better treatments for these cancers with fewer side effects.”

These grants are part of more than $19.6 million in new grants made 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 October.

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 $27.3 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.

About Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital at Stanford
Celebrating its 20th anniversary in 2011, Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital is annually ranked as one of the nation’s best pediatric hospitals by U.S. News & World Report, and is the only San Francisco Bay Area children’s hospital with programs ranked in the U.S. News Top Ten. The 311-bed hospital is devoted to the care of children and expectant mothers, and provides pediatric and obstetric medical and surgical services in association with the Stanford University School of Medicine. Packard Children’s offers patients locally, regionally, and nationally a full range of health care programs and services, from preventive and routine care to the diagnosis and treatment of serious illness and injury. For more information, visit www.lpch.org.