The 2013 Pablove Foundation Childhood Cancer Research Grant recipients were announced this month, awarding $150,000 to three leading cancer research centers nationwide. This year’s recipients are: Muller Fabbri M.D., Ph.D. of the Saban Research Institute at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles; Ying Zhang, Ph.D., of the Mayo Clinic; and Shilpa Pathak Ph.D., of Roswell Park Cancer Institute. The Pablove Foundation grants were selected by The Pablove Foundation’s esteemed Scientific Advisory Committee based on their scientific excellence and innovation in addressing real and pressing issues faced by children with cancer.

“This year marks a major milestone for our young foundation, as we cross the half million dollar mark in funding innovative research to change the face of childhood cancer treatment,” says Jo Ann Thrailkill, Executive Director of The Pablove Foundation. “As a parent, the promise that children will not just survive cancer, but thrive after cancer, is the promise most full of hope.”

Each grantee will receive a $50,000 seed grant to fund their proposal, with the opportunity to renew funding based on the promise of their scientific work. Seed grants provide initial funding for new ideas and young investigators, so that they may collect the results necessary to receive large-scale grants from the National Institute of Health and other sources of funding.

Dr. Muller Fabbri’s research (miRNAs secreted by tumor associated macrophages and resistance in Neuroblastoma) will address the challenge of drug resistance in neuroblastoma, which is the most prevalent cancer in infants. Dr. Fabbri is studying a unique communicating mechanism between neuroblastoma tumor cells and cells of the immune system. His preliminary research indicates that tumor cells send signals to immune cells, which in turn respond to the tumor cells by sending back signals to promote cancer survival and resistance to chemotherapy. By interrupting this cross-talk, Dr. Fabbri hopes to discover methods for preventing drug resistance in this difficult disease.

The project by Dr. Ying Zhang (The role of the de-ubiquitinase USP44 in childhood germ cell tumorigenesis) seeks to understand the origins and fundamental biology of germ cell tumors. Germ cell tumors are rare tumors that affect children and young adults whose biology recapitulates stem cell biology in the embryo that went wrong. The proposal focuses on an enzyme USP44 that has recently been implicated as a key regulator of normal stem cell development. By hijacking stem cell programs, germ cell tumor growth is promoted. Dr. Zhang will study the effects of USP44 loss on germ cell tumor development and on normal stem cell biology. Combining studies of normal and malignant development will provide key insights into the origin and drivers of germ cell tumor growth which could be targeted to improve cure rates.

Dr. Shilpa Pathak’s research (Development of anti-tumor molecules targeting the Wilms tumor oncogene, LIN28B) focuses on the development of a novel class of drugs called Pyrrole–imidazole polyamides or PIPs, as a Wilms Tumor therapeutic. LIN28B is a gene that has been identified as a contributing cause behind cancers like neuroblastoma and breast cancer. Dr. Pathak’s institution has identified LIN28B as a potential oncogene in Wilms Tumor as well. The PIPs in development through this project will attempt to suppress the expression of LIN28B in Wilms tumor and has the potential to introduce a new class of treatments for Wilms Tumor, which is a kidney cancer occurring in young children.

“As a pediatric cancer researcher, I’m committed to a ‘cancer-free childhood.’ Support from The Pablove Foundation will certainly speed up my research in Wilms tumorigenesis by testing the effectiveness of ‘small molecule’ drugs as a treatment regime,” says Dr. Pathak. “The Pablove grant award is a stepping-stone for my academic career as it enables my transition from a post-doctoral researcher to an independent investigator.”

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