Curing Kids Cancer, a nonprofit based in East Cobb, announced the 2016 recipients of $1 million in grants that will fund innovative therapies at 17 hospitals across the United States and Canada.

Three Women, Three Major Grants

Three doctors will receive $150,000 grants for each of their outstanding research projects. These projects focus on cancer immunotherapy, high-grade brain tumors and the development of targeted therapies using genetics. The recipients are Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia’s own Dr. Yael P. Mosse, Dr. Cynthia Hawkins from Sick Children’s Hospital in Toronto and Baylor College of Medicine’s Dr. Meenakshi G. Hegde.

“I am thrilled that the medical knowledge, the technology and the genetics are all coming together. We are beginning to fund the development of trues cures in our lifetime,” said Curing Kids Cancer Founder and President, Grainne Owen. “It is a real blessing and privilege for me to see the money that has been donated funding research that is actually saving children’s lives!”

Curing Kids Cancer continues to fund elite childhood cancer research and treatments across the country. Here are the spectacular childhood cancer research projects being funded:

Continued Projects

  • University of Texas Southwestern in Dallas received a grant to continue Dr. Jim Amatruda’s research on Ewing sarcoma using zebrafish to identify mutations that cause specific types of cancer;
    • Dana Farber Cancer Center located in Boston received a grant to continue Dr. Kimberly Stegmaier’s work on Epigenetics in Ewing sarcoma. This work helped her receive a 2015 grant of $200,000 from Curing Kids
    Cancer;
    • Dr. Jason Fangusaro and Dr. Wainwright at Ann and Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital in Chicago are again receiving a CKC grant for their groundbreaking research on brain tumors and new ways to treat them;
    • Dr. Kelly Maloney from Children’s Hospital Colorado received funding to continue working on targeted
    therapies in relapsed Leukemia;
    • Seattle Children’s Hospital received a grant for Dr. Todd Cooper’s research on developing a trial for relapsed Acute Myeloid Leukemia using a drug called Crenolanib;
    • Dr. Meryam Fouladi at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital will continue to work on brain tumor tissue samples to develop treatments for fatal tumors (DIPG) and other high-grade brain tumors with her Curing Kids Cancer grant. She will also lead a new international research consortium;
    • Curing Kids Cancer will continue its close and long standing relationships with Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles and Texas Children’s Hospital in Houston. CKC will announce the details of these partnerships very soon.

New Project

Curing Kids Cancer is funding the development of the Cellular Therapy Lab, which is being developed by Dr. Douglas Graham at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta. When the funding is complete it will be named the Killian Owen Curing Kids Cancer Cellular Therapy Lab.

First-Time Recipients

John Hopkins All Children’s Hospital in St. Petersburg, Fla., Riley Children’s Hospital in Indianapolis,
Mercy Children’s Hospital in Kansas City, Mo. and Norton Children’s Hospital in Louisville, Ky. are all first time recipients of Curing Kids Cancer grants.

Endowment

Curing Kids Cancer is working to complete its $1.2 million endowment at Palmetto Health Children’s Hospital in Columbia, S.C. When completed, the clinic will be named the Gamecocks Curing Kids Cancer Clinic.

East Cobbers Grainne and Clay Owen founded Curing Kids Cancer, a 501(c) devoted to funding cutting edge pediatric cancer therapies, after they lost their son, Killian, to leukemia in 2003 when he was nine years old. Since it was founded in 2005, Curing Kids Cancer has raised more than $8 million to fund new childhood cancer treatments and pediatric cancer research. For more information on how to help, please contact Curing Kids Cancer at 1-866-933-CURE (2873) or visit www.curingkidscancer.org to learn more.

(This story is published in the February 2017 issue of the EAST COBBER.)