Grants & Researchers
CancerFree KIDS is awarding $1.2 Million in Research Grants!
In our 20th anniversary year we are excited to share that we will be investing more in research in 2022 than ever before! We are funding 18 of our traditional New Idea Awards and are excited to be funding three of our first ever Accelerator Awards. Accelerator Awards are awarded to previous recipients of a CancerFree KIDS New Idea Award that have shown great promise to advance their research more quickly toward improving treatments for kids with cancer.
Please take a moment to learn about the incredible research we are funding this year!
2022 Research Grants Awarded to Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center
New Idea Awards - $550,000
The Butterfly Walk Research Grant: Lai Man Natalie Wu, Ph.D.; Project Title: Harnessing novel irradiation strategies to improve immunotherapy for systemic elimination of high-risk neuroblastoma
The altafiber Research Grant: Jennifer Yeung, Ph.D.; Project Title: Characterizing the pathogenesis role of endogenous retroviruses (ERVs) in pediatric AML
The Interlink Cloud Advisors Research Grant: H. Leighton "Lee" Grimes, Ph.D.; Project Title: Functionalizing novel mutations underlying health disparities in AML
The Wirtz Family Research Grant in memory of Jacob: Ashley Cochran, Ph.D.; Project Title: A novel therapeutic strategy for treating death-resistant leukemic cells
The Celebration of Champions Research Grant: Tafadzwa Chihanga, Ph.D.; Project Title: Targeting a novel HPV-induced epithelial compartment to prevent viral infection and carcinogenesis.
The CBTS Research Grant: Zaili Luo, Ph.D.; Project Title: Novel chimeric antigen receptor T cell immunotherapy for diffuse midline gliomas
The Sycamore Capital Research Grant: Yuan Lin; Project Title: Aberrant RhoA signaling in pediatric Burkitt’s Lymphoma as a drug target
The Night for the Fight Research Grant in honor of Dra' White and Jeff Clarke: Laura B. Ramsey, Ph.D.; Project Title: Using methotrexate pharmacogenomics to remedy racial and ethnic disparities in childhood cancer treatment
The Paxton’s Golf Outing Research Grant: Linde A. Miles, Ph.D.; Project Title: Delineation of clonotype-immunophenotype relationships in pediatric myeloid leukemias
The CTI Research Grant: Nawal Merjaneh, M.D.; Project Title: The Sequential Treatment of RCM-1 and Anti-Apoptotic BCL2 Family Protein Inhibitors in Rhabdomyosarcoma
The Chard Snyder Research Grant: Lynn H. Lee, M.D.; Project Title: Target Discovery with Forward CRISPR Genomic Screens in Leukemia Xenografts
Accelerator Awards - $200,000
The ProMach Research Grant: Biplab Dasgupta, Ph.D., in collaboration with Trent Hummel (CCHMC), Natasha Pillai (CCHMC), Pankaj Desai (University of Cincinnati), Timothy Phoenix (University of Cincinnati), Angelo D'Alessandro (University of Denver), Ali Tavassoli (University of Southampton, United Kingdom); Project Title: “Targeting One carbon Metabolism in DIPG”
The Wolf Pack Research Grant in memory of Grant Wolf: Dazhuan Eric Xin, Ph.D.; Project Title: Innovative proton radiotherapy for pediatric malignant medulloblastoma
2022 Research Grants Awarded to Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Columbus, OH
New Idea Awards - $350,000
The Clark Schaeffer Hackett Research Grant: Ezgi Elmas; Project Title: Discovering novel pathways to overcome immunosuppression in NK cells Against High-grade Gliomas
Akila Venkataramany; Project Title: Delivering Splice-switching Oligonucleotides Via Adeno-Associated Viruses: Taking the Next Steps Toward Novel Therapies for Ewing Sarcoma
The Tom and Lorri Simpson Research Grant: Kevin A. Cassady, M.D.; Project Title: Improving immunotherapy in pediatric neuronal tumors with EV delivery of immune modulators
The Night for the Fight Research Grant in honor of Eliana Boerner: Rachel Dreher; Project Title: LSD1 is a Novel Member of the ChAHP Complex in Ewing Sarcoma
The Reader Author Research Grant in honor of Lori Foster: Chun-Yu Chen, Ph.D.; Project Title: Targeting the immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment with a novel immunomodulatory HSV to enhance adoptive NK cell therapy
The Mark and MC Anderson Research Grant: Dr. Janet L. Oblinger, Ph.D.; Project Title: The role of ARID1A in the malignant progression of NF2-related meningioma
The Al and Lauren Early Research Grant: Pin-Yi Wang; Project Title: Targeting Osteosarcoma with Gene-Based Bispecifics
Accelerator Award - $100,000
The Celebration of Champions Research Grant: Long-Sheng Chang, Ph.D.; Project Title: A novel drug combination targeting RTKs and mTOR to treat malignant peripheral nerve sheath tumors