Innovation Grants

These grants are designed to provide critical and significant seed funding for experienced investigators with a novel and promising approach to finding causes and cures for childhood cancers. A Letter of Intent is required. The Innovation Award amount totals $250,000 over two years. The Award may not be renewed, however, one no cost extensions are allowable.

Download the 2025 Innovation Grant Full Application Guidelines

Modeling and Therapeutic Targeting of p21-Activated Kinase Members in High-Risk Rhabdomyosarcoma

Background

Principal Investigator Name:

Jason Yustein, MD/PhD

Project Title:

Modeling and Therapeutic Targeting of p21-Activated Kinase Members in High-Risk Rhabdomyosarcoma

Year Awarded:

2018

Cancer Research Category:

Rhabdomyosarcoma

Category of Grant:

Innovation Grants

Medical, Nurse Researcher, Quality of LIfe:

Medical

Institution:

Baylor College of Medicine

Molecular Landscape for Targeted Therapy in Retinoblastoma

Background

Principal Investigator Name:

James Harbour, MD

Project Title:

Molecular Landscape for Targeted Therapy in Retinoblastoma

Year Awarded:

2018

Cancer Research Category:

Retinoblastoma

Category of Grant:

Innovation Grants

Medical, Nurse Researcher, Quality of LIfe:

Medical

Institution:

University of Miami

Targeting KDM6B in Pediatric Leukemia

Background

Principal Investigator Name:

Grant A. Challen, PhD

Project Title:

Targeting KDM6B in Pediatric Leukemia

Year Awarded:

2018

Cancer Research Category:

Category of Grant:

Innovation Grants

Medical, Nurse Researcher, Quality of LIfe:

Medical

Institution:

Washington University

Energy Balance Strategies for Decreasing Chemotherapy-Induced Cardiotoxicity

Background
Advances in chemotherapy strategies have improved survival rates for childhood cancer to 80%. However, there are >400,000 survivors where cardiac disease related to cancer therapy is the leading cause of mortality. There is a correlation between total dose of doxorubicin (Dox) and overall survival in children with sarcomas but also a direct link between Dox dose and subsequent cardiac morbidity. We demonstrated that exercise during Dox decreased acute cardiac damage without interfering with Dox efficacy.

Principal Investigator Name:

Eugenie Kleinerman, MD

Project Title:

Energy Balance Strategies for Decreasing Chemotherapy-Induced Cardiotoxicity

Year Awarded:

2018

Cancer Research Category:

General Pediatric Cancer

Category of Grant:

Innovation Grants

Medical, Nurse Researcher, Quality of LIfe:

Medical

Institution:

University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center

Circulating Repetitive Element RNAs as an Osteosarcoma Marker

Background

Principal Investigator Name:

David Cobrinik, MD/PhD

Project Title:

Circulating Repetitive Element RNAs as an Osteosarcoma Marker

Year Awarded:

2018

Cancer Research Category:

Osteosarcoma

Category of Grant:

Innovation Grants

Medical, Nurse Researcher, Quality of LIfe:

Medical

Institution:

Children’s Hospital Los Angeles

Nuclear Receptor Tyrosine Kinases Mediating Chromatin Remodeling & Checkpoint Adaption

Background
Alveolar rhabdomyosarcoma is a cancer of the soft tissues. This disease often responds to chemotherapy, but in many patients the available treatments fail – a deadly outcome. We identified how a cancer-causing fusion gene called Pax3:Foxo1 may lead to treatment failure: by turning on growth factor genes late in the process of tumor cell duplication. We believe this pro-growth, pro-survival process allows tumor cells to endure chemotherapy and radiation and allow tumor recurrences.

Principal Investigator Name:

Charles Keller, MD

Project Title:

Nuclear Receptor Tyrosine Kinases Mediating Chromatin Remodeling & Checkpoint Adaption

Year Awarded:

2018

Cancer Research Category:

Rhabdomyosarcoma

Category of Grant:

Innovation Grants

Medical, Nurse Researcher, Quality of LIfe:

Medical

Institution:

Children’s Cancer Therapy Development Institute

Olfactory Ensheathing Cells for Pediatric Glioma Gene/Cell Therapy

Background

Principal Investigator Name:

Bakhos Tannous, PhD

Project Title:

Olfactory Ensheathing Cells for Pediatric Glioma Gene/Cell Therapy

Year Awarded:

2018

Cancer Research Category:

Glioma

Category of Grant:

Innovation Grants

Medical, Nurse Researcher, Quality of LIfe:

Medical

Institution:

Massachusetts General Hospital

Characterization of Novel OTX2-semaphorin Gene Signaling Pathways Regulating the ‘Grow and Go’ Arms of Highly Aggressive Medulloblastomas

Background

Principal Investigator Name:

Tamra Werbowetski-Ogilvie, PhD

Project Title:

Characterization of Novel OTX2-semaphorin Gene Signaling Pathways Regulating the ‘Grow and Go’ Arms of Highly Aggressive Medulloblastomas

Year Awarded:

2017

Cancer Research Category:

Medulloblastoma

Category of Grant:

Innovation Grants

Medical, Nurse Researcher, Quality of LIfe:

Medical

Institution:

University of Manitoba

Alternative Splicing in the Pathogenesis of Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia

Background

Principal Investigator Name:

Andrei Thomas-Tikhonenko, PhD

Project Title:

Alternative Splicing in the Pathogenesis of Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia

Year Awarded:

2017

Cancer Research Category:

Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL)

Category of Grant:

Innovation Grants

Medical, Nurse Researcher, Quality of LIfe:

Medical

Institution:

Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia

De-escalation of Radiotherapy for Medulloblastoma by a Novel DNA Damage Checkpoint Inhibitor

Background
Medulloblastoma is the most common malignant pediatric brain tumor. Radiotherapy is effective for a large number of medulloblastoma patients, but it often has devastating life-long side effects that severely limit the quality of life of these patients. Thus, safer therapies are urgently needed.

Principal Investigator Name:

Marc Symons, PhD

Project Title:

De-escalation of Radiotherapy for Medulloblastoma by a Novel DNA Damage Checkpoint Inhibitor

Year Awarded:

2017

Cancer Research Category:

Medulloblastoma

Category of Grant:

Innovation Grants

Medical, Nurse Researcher, Quality of LIfe:

Medical

Institution:

Feinstein Institute for Medical Research - North Shore

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