Childhood Cancer Research Grant Awarded to Miller Children’s Hospital Long Beach

It takes life-saving research and access to clinical trials to help children with cancer. The St. Baldrick’s Foundation, a volunteer-driven charity dedicated to raising money for childhood cancer research, awarded an infrastructure grant of $50,000 to the Jonathan Jaques Children’s Cancer Center (JJCCC) at Miller Children’s Hospital Long Beach. The Foundation’s infrastructure grants provide institutions with resources to enable them to conduct more research and enroll more kids in ongoing clinical trials – their best hope for a cure.

Worldwide, more than 160,000 children are diagnosed with cancer each year and it remains the leading cause of death by disease among children in the United States. With only 4 percent of all federal cancer research funding dedicated to pediatric cancer research, and more than 70 percent of children receiving treatment through clinical trials, St. Baldrick’s Foundation infrastructure grants are critical to finding cures for all childhood cancers.

“Progress in pediatric oncology depends on the inclusion of diverse patient populations throughout the clinical trials process,” says Sandra Sherman-Bien, Ph.D., research psychologist at the JJCCC, Miller Children’s. “Over half of our patients at JJCCC are of Hispanic background, many with families who do not speak English. With the St. Baldrick’s Foundation’s generous support for this infrastructure grant, we will be able to hire a Spanish-speaking clinical research associate to maximize research access and participation among our growing Hispanic population. We are so grateful for their support.”

In the future, JJCCC plans to participate in additional pharmaceutical clinical trials, non-therapeutic clinical research, psychological research and survivorship programs. Expanding survivorship research, through the late effects program, is imperative to better understand the medical issues that arise in survivors. All of this leads to the end goal of fewer medical complications and improved quality of life.

The infrastructure grants, combined with the more than $19.6 million awarded in June, bring the St. Baldrick’s Foundation’s funding total to more than $21 million awarded in 2011. Infrastructure grants were awarded based on the need of the institution and its patients, anticipated results of the grant and local participation in St. Baldrick’s events.

Everyone can do their part to support St. Baldrick’s! To locate or organize an event in your community, sign-up to shave, donate or volunteer, visit www.StBaldricks.org. You can also become a fan on Facebook, follow us on Twitter, join our letsCONQUER movement and visit the Foundation’s YouTube and Vimeo channels.

About the St. Baldrick’s Foundation The St. Baldrick’s Foundation is a volunteer-driven charity committed to funding the most promising research to find cures for childhood cancers and give survivors long and healthy lives. The Foundation funds more in childhood cancer research grants than any organization except the U.S. government. St. Baldrick’s funds are granted to some of the most brilliant childhood cancer research experts in the world and to younger professionals who will be the experts of tomorrow. Funds awarded also enable hundreds of local institutions to participate in national pediatric cancer clinical trials, a child’s best hope for a cure. Since the Foundation’s first grants as an independent charity in 2005, St. Baldrick’s has funded more than $78 million in childhood cancer research. For more information about the St. Baldrick’s Foundation please call 1.888.899.BALD or visit www.StBaldricks.org.

About the Jonathan Jaques Children’s Cancer Center The Jonathan Jaques Children’s Cancer Center (JJCCC) at Miller Children’s Hospital Long Beach provides comprehensive, family-centered care in a culturally sensitive environment. JJCCC improves the outcome, prevent complications and enhances the quality of life for young people with cancer and serious blood disorders through clinical research.

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