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St. Baldrick’s Foundation Announces $ 51,192 Grant to Northwestern University

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

St. Baldrick’s Foundation Announces $ 51,192 Grant to Northwestern University

CHICAGO (September 8, 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 a $51,192 St. Baldrick’s Fellow award to Constadina Arvanitis Ph.D., at Northwestern University.

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 3 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.

Based on progress to date, Dr. Arvanitis was awarded a new grant in 2011 to fund an optional third year of her fellowship. She is studying the role of transendothelial migration in osteosarcoma, a type of bone cancer, with the ultimate goal of developing therapies against metastases in pediatric cancers.

“Pediatric cancer research receives only a small portion of our national cancer research budget,” said Dr. Arvanitis. “Research grants from the St. Baldrick’s Foundation therefore play an extremely crucial role in filling this unfortunate and increasingly urgent funding gap. In my case, the postdoctoral fellowship supports the effort to understand how osteosarcoma metastasizes to other organs. Specifically, we will probe the molecular mechanisms involved in how cancer cells breach the blood vessel – a critical step that initiates the hematogeneous dissemination of cancer cells to organs. By understanding how cancer invades vessels, we explore opportunities and drug targets to inhibit the process to curb tumor metastasis.”

This grant is 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 October.

In 2011, more than 50 St. Baldrick’s events were held in the city of Chicago, where more than 2,100 volunteers shaved their heads to help Conquer Kids’ Cancer!

“It certainly is great to know that my involvement may be helping, in some way, someone who could be my neighbor,” said James Kearney, volunteer event organizer of the Claddagh Ring Chicago St. Baldrick’s event. “I have already shared the news of the funding with my event participants and we all share the excitement that by shaving our heads and raising some money, the kids in our community who may be affected by cancer receive the benefits of our efforts.”

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 $26 million by organizing more than 1,000 St. Baldrick’s events and shaving more than 43,700 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.