St. Baldrick's Foundation Awards Nearly $1.5 Million in Grants to Help Institutions Treat More Kids on Clinical Trials

News provided by

Nov 12, 2019, 11:26 ET

LOS ANGELES, Nov. 12, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- The St. Baldrick's Foundation, the largest private funder of childhood cancer research grants, has awarded 25 infrastructure grants totaling nearly $1.5 million to institutions across the country. These one-year grants are focused on giving the selected institutions the ability to open, coordinate and treat more children on clinical trials, often their best hope for a cure.

Clinical trials offer both children in treatment as well as survivors the possibility of a better future with fewer side effects. For all kids with cancer today and in the future, clinical trials help scientists make important steps towards discovering new cures.

"Clinical trials are a team effort on a massive scale. They require the expertise of researchers and clinical staff at hospitals, government experts and statisticians to analyze results, and of course, the children and families who actually choose to participate in them," said Kathleen Ruddy, CEO of St. Baldrick's. "Since 2005, St. Baldrick's volunteers and donors have also played a critical role in clinical trials by funding them. New treatments cannot reach children without testing them first, so trials are essential to saving kid's lives. Without the efforts of everyone involved - researcher, caregiver, volunteer, donor, and families - research progress would slow significantly and fewer children would survive."

Infrastructure Grants are awarded based on the need of the institution and its patients, anticipated results of the grant and local participation in St. Baldrick's fundraising events and activities. These grants provide institutions with the resources needed to conduct further research.

This particular series of grants brings the St. Baldrick's Foundation's funding total to more than $24.7 million awarded in 2019. Since 2005, St. Baldrick's has awarded more than $282 million to support the most promising childhood cancer research, no matter where it takes place.

St. Baldrick's Infrastructure Grants were awarded to the following institutions:

Albany Medical College, Albany, N.Y.
Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago, Chicago, Ill.
Bon Secours St. Francis Health System, Greenville, S.C.
Children's Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minn.
Children's Hospital of The King's Daughters, Norfolk, Va.
Cook Children's Medical Center, Fort Worth, Texas
Dell Children's Medical Center, Austin, Texas
El Paso Children's Hospital, El Paso, Texas
Children's Cancer Institute of Hackensack Meridian Health Joseph M. Sanzari Children's Hospital, Hackensack University Medical Center, Hackensack, N.J.
HSHS St. Vincent Cancer Research Institute, Green Bay, Wis.
Loma Linda University, Loma Linda, Calif.
Ochsner Health System, New Orleans, La.
Orlando Health Arnold Palmer Hospital for Children, Orlando, Fla.
SSM Health Cardinal Glennon Children's Hospital, St. Louis, Mo.
SUNY Upstate Medical University, Syracuse, N.Y.
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, N.C.
UCSF Benioff Children's Hospital Oakland, Oakland, Calif.
University of California San Diego, La Jolla, Calif.
University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, Ill.
University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, Oklahoma City, Okla.
Valley Children's Healthcare, Madera, Calif.
Vannie E. Cook Jr. Children's Cancer and Hematology Clinic affiliated with Baylor College of Medicine, McAllen, Texas
Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, Va.
Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center, Winston-Salem, N.C.
Yale University, New Haven, Conn.

To learn how you can get involved, visit www.stbaldricks.org, or follow us on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Vimeo. Read more about the research we fund on the St. Baldrick's blog.

About St. Baldrick's Foundation
As the largest private funder of childhood cancer research grants, the St. Baldrick's Foundation is leading the charge to take childhood back from cancer. St. Baldrick's funds some of the most brilliant childhood cancer research experts who are working to find cures and better treatments for all childhood cancers. Kids need treatments as unique as they are – and that starts with funding research just for them. Join us at StBaldricks.org to help support the best childhood cancer research, no matter where it takes place.

SOURCE St. Baldrick's Foundation