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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.

Baylor College of Medicine

Background
Neuroblastoma is an aggressive pediatric cancer that accounts for more than 15% of all pediatric cancer deaths. Currently we treat advanced disease with high dose chemotherapy, radiation therapy and surgery and despite these toxic therapies, cure rates remain less than 40% in children over one year of age. Our laboratory focuses on developing novel biologically specific therapies for neuroblastoma with the hope that these will be more effective and less toxic.

Principal Investigator Name: 

Eveline Barbieri, MD, PhD

Project Title: 

Characterization and Targeting of p53 Ubiquitination in Neuroblastoma.

Year Awarded: 

2008

Cancer Research Category: 

Category of Grant: 

Institution: 

Huntsman Cancer Institute, University of Utah

Background
Protocols for the treatment of childhood cancers are beginning to incorporate our current knowledge of cancer genetics. For example, certain DNA mutations in a child's cancer might indicate that the disease will be difficult to cure. In such cases, curative treatments will need to be more intense. Conversely, children with mutations which indicate their disease is easier to cure can be spared high doses of chemotherapy. By this approach doctors hope to maximize cure rates while minimizing toxic side-effects, which can be severe.

Principal Investigator Name: 

Nathan Meeker, MD

Project Title: 

The TC3 Line, a Zebrafish Model of T-Cell Malignancy

Year Awarded: 

2008

Cancer Research Category: 

Category of Grant: 

Institution: 

Children's Hospital Los Angeles

Background
Medulloblastoma is a type of brain tumor seen most often in children. Standard treatment for medulloblastoma includes radiation to the whole brain and spine, as well as surgery and chemotherapy. Unfortunately, radiation to the brain has significant long-term side effects in children. These side effects range from mild learning disabilities to severe mental retardation. The brain-damaging effects are most severe in young children.

Principal Investigator Name: 

Shahab Asgharzadeh, MD

Project Title: 

Genomic Alterations in Medulloblastoma

Year Awarded: 

2008

Cancer Research Category: 

Category of Grant: 

Medical, Nurse Researcher, Quality of LIfe: 

Institution: 

Massachusetts General Hospital

Background
The pediatric kidney cancer, Wilms tumor, is the fourth most common type of cancer in children. Wilms tumor seems to arise because of abnormalities in the formation of the kidneys from primitive cells in the embryo. The most studied genes mutated in Wilms tumor include WT1 and beta-catenin, which are essential for controlling the development of normal kidneys and in controlling how cells divide. However, these genes are only mutated in a small percentage of Wilms tumors.

Principal Investigator Name: 

Nabeel Bardeesy, PhD

Project Title: 

A mouse model of Wilms' Tumor

Year Awarded: 

2008

Cancer Research Category: 

Category of Grant: 

Institution: 

Purdue University

Background
Medulloblastoma (MB), a tumor of the cerebellum, is the most common malignant brain tumor in children. Despite aggressive treatment with surgical resection, radiation and chemotherapy, only 60% of children are cured of the tumor and most suffer life-long, devastating side effects including reduced intellect. The main problem with current treatments for MB is that they are not very specific for MB tumor cells. Thus, there is a critical need to develop new cancer therapies that selectively kill MB tumor cells.

Principal Investigator Name: 

Susan Mendrysa, PhD

Project Title: 

MDM2 as an Effector of Hedgehog Signaling in Brain Development and Medulloblastoma

Year Awarded: 

2008

Cancer Research Category: 

Category of Grant: 

Institution: 

University of Arizona

Background
Neuroblastoma is the most common extracranial solid tumor in children. Young patients over 1 year of age with metastatic disease have a poor outcome despite advances in chemoradiotherapy, surgery and stem cell transplantation. Therefore, new challenges for the therapy of pediatric neuroblastoma are becoming apparent.

Principal Investigator Name: 

Nicolas Larmonier, PhD

Project Title: 

Reciprocal interactions between tumor killer dendritic cells and tumor-induced regulatory T lymphocytes

Year Awarded: 

2008

Cancer Research Category: 

Category of Grant: 

Institution: 

The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia

Background
Development of new anti-cancer drugs that can more precisely target childhood cancers offers the prospect of more effective therapy with fewer side effects. More than 70% of children diagnosed with cancer today are cured of their disease, but today’s therapy has both short term and lifelong side effects, and too many children still die from their cancer. A critical challenge is how best to combine new anti-cancer drugs with potentially curative but toxic chemotherapy. 

Principal Investigator Name: 

Robin Norris, MD

Project Title: 

Integration of Targeted New Agents with Chemotherapy 

Year Awarded: 

2008

Cancer Research Category: 

Category of Grant: 

Institution: 

The Johns Hopkins University

Background
Leukemia is the most common childhood cancer worldwide with almost 4,000 cases each year in the United States alone. Acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) is cancer of the white blood cells and T-cell leukemia is a particularly aggressive subtype of leukemia that involves T-cells or white cells that develop in the thymus. T-cell ALL constitutes about 13-15% of all cases of childhood ALL.

Principal Investigator Name: 

Joelle Hillion, PhD

Project Title: 

Targeting HMGA1 in Pediatric T-cell Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia

Year Awarded: 

2008

Cancer Research Category: 

Category of Grant: 

Institution: 

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