Young Investigator Grants

Young Investigator grants are designed to fill the critical need for startup funds for less experienced researchers to pursue promising research ideas. Eligible applicants may apply during their fellowship training or early in their research careers but must not have achieved an appointment higher than Instructor. These grants encourage and cultivate the best and brightest researchers of the future and lead to long-term research projects. The Young Investigator grant offers up to $60,000 per year for three years.

The Role of LIN28B-let-7-PBK Axis on the Growth and Metastasis of Group 3 Medulloblastoma

Medulloblastoma (MB) is the most common cancerous brain tumor in children and is often fatal. The most aggressive MBs, those designated as Group 3 (G3), often present with metastasis and frequently recur after standard therapy. The pathways that contribute to this aggressive behavior are poorly understood.

Principal Investigator Name:

Shubin Shahab, MD/PhD

Project Title:

The Role of LIN28B-let-7-PBK Axis on the Growth and Metastasis of Group 3 Medulloblastoma

Year Awarded:

2021

Cancer Research Category:

Medulloblastoma

Category of Grant:

Young Investigator Grants

Medical, Nurse Researcher, Quality of LIfe:

Medical

Institution:

Emory University

Exploiting the Potential of Bromodomain Inhibitors in Ewing Sarcoma

Ewing sarcoma (ES) is an aggressive bone and soft tissue tumor affecting adolescents and young adults (AYA), and compromises about 250 pediatric and AYA cancer diagnoses yearly.

Principal Investigator Name:

Shireen Ganapathi, MD

Project Title:

Exploiting the Potential of Bromodomain Inhibitors in Ewing Sarcoma

Year Awarded:

2021

Cancer Research Category:

Ewing Sarcoma

Category of Grant:

Young Investigator Grants

Medical, Nurse Researcher, Quality of LIfe:

Medical

Institution:

Seattle Children’s Hospital

Dissecting the Contribution and Inheritance of Germline DNA Damage Repair Gene Mutations in Neuroblastoma

Prior research has suggested that anywhere from 7-28% of all pediatric cancers arise in part due to germline (normal tissue) mutations in cancer predisposition genes.

Principal Investigator Name:

Riaz Gillani, MD

Project Title:

Dissecting the Contribution and Inheritance of Germline DNA Damage Repair Gene Mutations in Neuroblastoma

Year Awarded:

2021

Cancer Research Category:

Neuroblastoma

Category of Grant:

Young Investigator Grants

Medical, Nurse Researcher, Quality of LIfe:

Medical

Institution:

Dana-Farber Cancer Institute

Dissecting Functional uORFs as a Source of Cancer Genes in High-Risk Medulloblastoma

Medulloblastoma is a highly deadly form of brain cancer that almost exclusively impacts children, especially young children.

Principal Investigator Name:

John Prensner, MD/PhD

Project Title:

Dissecting Functional uORFs as a Source of Cancer Genes in High-Risk Medulloblastoma

Year Awarded:

2021

Cancer Research Category:

Category of Grant:

Young Investigator Grants

Medical, Nurse Researcher, Quality of LIfe:

Medical

Institution:

Dana-Farber Cancer Institute

Social Determinants of Health, Hospital-level Resources, and Risk of Septic Shock in Pediatric Leukemia

More and more children with leukemia are being cured of their cancer due to advancements of treatment options. These treatments can have serious side effects, including risk for life-threatening serious infections.

Principal Investigator Name:

Jenny Ruiz, MD

Project Title:

Social Determinants of Health, Hospital-level Resources, and Risk of Septic Shock in Pediatric Leukemia

Year Awarded:

2021

Cancer Research Category:

Leukemia

Category of Grant:

Young Investigator Grants

Medical, Nurse Researcher, Quality of LIfe:

Medical

Institution:

Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia

Redefining Osteosarcoma Metastases as Chronic Non-healing Lung Wounds: Implications for Developing Novel Therapies

Osteosarcoma is a bone cancer that affects children, adolescents, and young adults. Thanks to modern treatment approaches, nearly 7 out of 10 young people diagnosed with osteosarcoma survive into adulthood.

Principal Investigator Name:

James Reinecke, MD/PhD

Project Title:

Redefining Osteosarcoma Metastases as Chronic Non-healing Lung Wounds: Implications for Developing Novel Therapies

Year Awarded:

2021

Cancer Research Category:

Osteosarcoma

Category of Grant:

Young Investigator Grants

Medical, Nurse Researcher, Quality of LIfe:

Medical

Institution:

Research Institute at Nationwide Children's Hospital

Activating Metabolic Pathways to Increase the Persistence of Leukemia Targeting T Cells

The treatment of pediatric cancer requires the use of chemotherapy drugs, which carry a variety of long-term health consequences and are not always successful. New and exciting cancer treatments, known as immunotherapy, are looking to change this by using a patient’s own immune system to fight their cancer.

Principal Investigator Name:

Erica Braverman, MD

Project Title:

Activating Metabolic Pathways to Increase the Persistence of Leukemia Targeting T Cells

Year Awarded:

2021

Cancer Research Category:

Category of Grant:

Young Investigator Grants

Medical, Nurse Researcher, Quality of LIfe:

Medical

Institution:

Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh

STING Pathway Activation: The Missing Link between Genomic Instability and Antitumor Immunity in Osteosarcoma

Osteosarcoma is a bone tumor occurring most often in children and young adults. These patients have a 5-year survival rate of less than 20% if the cancer has spread to distant sites at the time of diagnosis.

Principal Investigator Name:

Elizabeth Young, MD

Project Title:

STING Pathway Activation: The Missing Link between Genomic Instability and Antitumor Immunity in Osteosarcoma

Year Awarded:

2021

Cancer Research Category:

Osteosarcoma

Category of Grant:

Young Investigator Grants

Medical, Nurse Researcher, Quality of LIfe:

Medical

Institution:

University of California San Francisco

Hematopoietic Stem And Progenitor Cells Sustain Inflammation And Promote Relapse In The AML Niche

Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is a type of cancer that arises from genetic changes in blood-forming cells in the bone marrow (BM). AML is the second most common type of blood-forming cancer among children.

Principal Investigator Name:

Ding-Wen (Roger) Chen, PhD

Project Title:

Hematopoietic Stem And Progenitor Cells Sustain Inflammation And Promote Relapse In The AML Niche

Year Awarded:

2021

Cancer Research Category:

Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML)

Category of Grant:

Young Investigator Grants

Medical, Nurse Researcher, Quality of LIfe:

Medical

Institution:

Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia

Investigating Epigenetic Mechanisms of Response to Allogenic CAR T Cell Therapy

While autologous chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cell therapy has proven efficacious for many patients with acute lymphoblastic leukemia, CD19-positive relapse often occurs after CD19-CAR T cell therapy indicating that the CAR T cells either lack persistence or functionality.

Principal Investigator Name:

Caitlin Zebley, MD/PhD

Project Title:

Investigating Epigenetic Mechanisms of Response to Allogenic CAR T Cell Therapy

Year Awarded:

2021

Cancer Research Category:

General Pediatric Cancer

Category of Grant:

Young Investigator Grants

Medical, Nurse Researcher, Quality of LIfe:

Medical

Institution:

St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital

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