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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.

Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center

Update 6/2014:
The following publications were supported completely or partly by funding from ALSF:

Vav3 collaborates with p190-BCR-ABL in lymphoid progenitor leukemogenesis, proliferation, and survival.
Chang KH, Sanchez-Aguilera A, Shen S, Sengupta A, Madhu MN, Ficker AM, Dunn SK, Kuenzi AM, Arnett JL, Santho RA, Agirre X, Perentesis JP, Deininger MW, Zheng Y, Bustelo XR, Williams DA, Cancelas JA.
Blood. 2012 Jul 26;120(4):800-11.

Principal Investigator Name: 

Jose Cancelas, MD, PhD

Project Title: 

Rac in p190-BCR-ABL0Induced Leukemia.

Year Awarded: 

2007

Cancer Research Category: 

Category of Grant: 

Medical, Nurse Researcher, Quality of LIfe: 

Institution: 

University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center

Update 6/2014:

These publications were supported in part by funding from Alex's Lemonade Stand Foundation: 

Singh H, Huls H, Kebriaei P, Cooper LJ. A new approach to gene therapy using Sleeping Beauty to genetically modify clinical-grade T cells to target CD19. Immunol Rev. 2014 Jan;257(1):181-90.

Principal Investigator Name: 

Laurence Cooper, MD, PhD

Project Title: 

Adoptive immunotherapy using clinical-grade T cells.

Year Awarded: 

2007

Cancer Research Category: 

Category of Grant: 

Medical, Nurse Researcher, Quality of LIfe: 

Institution: 

Baylor College of Medicine

Identification of mutations in specific genes responsible for cancer susceptibility impacts decisions about treatment of the affected child as well as allowing increased surveillance and prevention approaches in at-risk family members.  In addition, knowledge of inherited predisposition to pediatric malignancies has provided important insights into the mechanisms of cancer and potential therapeutic targets in both children and adults with cancer in the general population.

Principal Investigator Name: 

Sharon Plon

Project Title: 

Parallel sequencing to identify the causes of childhood cancer

Year Awarded: 

2008

Cancer Research Category: 

Category of Grant: 

Institution: 

NYU School of Medicine

T cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia is a common pediatric tumor caused by the transformation of T cells of the immune system. Although treatment outcome in T-ALL has improved in recent years, patients with relapsed disease continue to have dismal prognosis despite the use of protocols involving hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. One of the most devastating manifestations of the disease is the leukemia relapse in the central nervous system (brain and spinal cord). It is thus very important to identify and study the genes that control both induction and establishment of the disease.

Principal Investigator Name: 

Iannis Aifantis, PhD

Project Title: 

Molecular Regulation of CNS Involvement in Pediatric ALL

Year Awarded: 

2008

Cancer Research Category: 

Category of Grant: 

Institution: 

Emory University


1. Layman's Title for your Research Project

"A new therapeutic paradigm for the treatment of neuroblastoma and other pediatric cancers"

2. The type of childhood cancer your project focuses on and facts about it

The major focus of our research efforts is the application of this new form of therapy to neuroblastoma and medulloblastoma however other pediatric cancers will be sensitive to this therapy.

3.  Research Objectives:

Principal Investigator Name: 

Donald Durden

Project Title: 

PI-3 kinase as a novel and attractive target in pediatric cancer and neuroblastoma

Year Awarded: 

2008

Cancer Research Category: 

Category of Grant: 

Institution: 

Children's Hospital Los Angeles

Ewing’s Sarcoma Family Tumors (ESFT) are aggressive tumors of bone and soft tissue which are mostly confined to childhood and adolescence. Even with intensified chemotherapy, approximately 40% of those diagnosed with ESFT will die of the disease. Despite intensive study into the molecular-level mechanisms of these tumors, remarkably little of use to patients has resulted. My lab has just published findings that demonstrate that a mechanism common to many adult cancers, also plays an important role in ESFT. This mechanism is called the Hedgehog-Gli pathway.

Principal Investigator Name: 

William May

Project Title: 

Preclinical Studies of Gli1 Inhibition in Ewing Family Tumors

Year Awarded: 

2008

Cancer Research Category: 

Category of Grant: 

Institution: 

Children's Hospital Los Angeles

ALSF-funded team uncovers how childhood leukemia cells become drug-resistant

Principal Investigator Name: 

Markus Muschen

Project Title: 

The role of OCT4 in self-renewal signaling and drug-resistance of childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia

Year Awarded: 

2008

Cancer Research Category: 

Category of Grant: 

Medical, Nurse Researcher, Quality of LIfe: 

Institution: 

Alfred I duPont Hospital For Children

Inhibition of Cathepsins to Treat Neuroblastoma Neuroblastoma is a common pediatric cancer that is characterized by abnormal continuous proliferation of neural crest cells late in development. In most infants, this abnormal proliferation spontaneously regresses and clinical management is restricted to surgical removal of large tumors and observation of disease regression. This is particularly striking for stage 4S where even multiple secondary tumors regress.

Principal Investigator Name: 

Robert Mason

Project Title: 

Inhibition of Cathepsins to Treat Neuroblastoma

Year Awarded: 

2008

Cancer Research Category: 

Category of Grant: 

Institution: 

The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia

Neuroblastoma is one of the most common and deadly solid tumors of childhood. Several genetic changes have been identified neuroblastomas that almost certainly contribute to the development or behavior of these tumors. We identified deletion of the short arm of chromosome 1 (1p) as a common and characteristic change of more aggressive neuroblastomas. Deletions in tumors generally suggest that some important tumor suppressor gene (TSG) in the commonly deleted region needs to be removed or inactivated to allow the tumor to develop or to be aggressive.

Principal Investigator Name: 

Garrett Brodeur

Project Title: 

Generation of CHD5 Antibodies and Know-out Mouse Model

Year Awarded: 

2008

Cancer Research Category: 

Category of Grant: 

Institution: 

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