The Childhood Cancer Blog

The Childhood Cancer Blog

Welcome to The Childhood Cancer Blog
from Alex's Lemonade Stand Foundation!

  • dr. michelle monje
    “ALSF helped launch my research program 10 years ago, and has supported my lab at every step along the way. Their investment in childhood cancer research has transformed the field and nurtured the development of a generation of childhood cancer researchers,” said Dr. Monje.
  • dr. cigall kadoch
    “The ‘high-risk, high-reward’ studies that ALSF supported are the some of the very studies that best represent me, our science and serve as the platform for the work we have ongoing and propose for the future,” said Dr. Kadoch. “It doesn’t escape me that the support from ALSF has been instrumental, and I extend my deep appreciation to ALSF for supporting our science from the very beginning.” 

Two Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation (ALSF)-funded researchers, Michelle Monje, MD/PhD and Cigall Kadoch, PhD, have been named as Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) Investigators.

The HHMI program supports more than 250 investigators, located at more than 60 research institutions across the United States. As HHMI investigators, Dr. Monje, who is based at Stanford University will study the interactions between aggressive brain cancers, like glioma, and the nervous system’s circuity; and Dr. Kadoch, who is based at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, will study chromatin and gene... Read More

Ginny Mclean (center) from the Swifty Foundation togther with Liz and Jay Scott 

Ginny Mclean (center) from the Swifty Foundation togther with Liz and Jay Scott 

Patti Gustafson became aware of childhood cancer when her son Michael was diagnosed with medulloblastoma, a type of brain tumor. Michael was nearing the end of his life when he developed his “Master Plan” to donate his tumor tissue to science so a cure might be found for other children. From his plan, the Swifty Foundation was born. 

Michael died at the age of 15. Today, his family caries on his foundation.  

“Before I was in this space, I always assumed 'somebody' was curing childhood cancer. I mean, everyone wants children to stop dying from cancer, so of course it’s... Read More

lucy littlefield

12-year neuroblastoma survivor Lucy.

Dr. Janice Withycombe, an ALSF-funded research nurse at Clemson University and Prisma Health, believes that the long-term side effects of pediatric cancer treatment can best be understood not by talking to the parents of a child, but by talking to the child directly to hear their experience. 

Childhood cancer treatments — especially chemotherapy, radiation and surgery — come with a myriad of immediate, short-term and lifelong side effects. Side effects during treatment can make the harsh months of... Read More

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