Alex's Lemonade Stand Foundation

We believe that our grant program is unique, innovative, and most importantly, making a real difference for children with cancer. We have a singular vision that we share with our grant recipients ~ a cure for childhood cancer.

Of course, we understand the benefit of "expert testimony" so read on for direct feedback on the significance of research grants from Alex's Lemonade Stand Foundation:

“Funding from Alex's Lemonade Stand Foundation has been a lifeline for clinical research on childhood cancer. Through their support we have been able to reach more children with new agents and translational studies. It is this type of support that will make the difference.”

-Heidi Russell, MD, PhD, Baylor College of Medicine, Texas Children's Cancer Center

“I am honored to receive this grant from Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation, and am inspired by Alexandra’s story. This funding will jump start a clinical research project with great implications for children, whose disease has been unresponsive to traditional therapies, giving new hope to them and their parents.”

-Mark Kieran, MD, PhD, , Director of Pediatric Medical Neuro-Oncology, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute

“This grant is particularly important at this time because federal funding for cancer research has been cut in recent years. Moreover, the gallant effort of Alex to battle childhood cancer, which has been continued by her family, will forever inspire those of us who are working to discover new cures for childhood cancer.”

-Linda M. S. Resar, MD, Associate Professor of Medicine, Oncology & Pediatrics
Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine

"The Alex's Lemonade Stand grant will support our program's research to bring innovative treatments to children with cancer and to develop new methods to minimize the side effects of chemotherapy. Our research includes participation and leadership in three phase I consortia, translating local laboratory developments into treatment, and personalized chemotherapy dosing based upon genetics."

-Dr. Julie Park, Children’s Hospital & Regional Medical Center in Seattle

"The funds provided by Alex's Lemonade Stand Foundation help us bridge the critical link between early discoveries in the laboratory and creating successful therapies to fight cancer. Alex's parents have given her a legacy that hopefully will build a better future for many cancer patients."

-Robert J. Arceci, MD, PhD, Director of Pediatric Oncology, Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center

"Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation has provided critically needed funding to some of our most talented and innovative childhood cancer researchers. This has helped us rapidly translate laboratory breakthroughs into new therapies for our young patients. The Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation Grants Program is helping researchers throughout the country move closer to the day when cure is a reality for all children with cancer.”

-David G. Poplack, MD, Director, Texas Children’s Cancer Center

“In addition to gaining insight into how medulloblastomas may form and could be treated, our work will have implications for a variety of other pediatric and adult cancers, such as skin cancer and neuroblastoma. Being engaged in research that not only fulfills the goals of my own program in medulloblastoma, but may also further the work of investigators working to understand and treat other kinds of cancer is an endeavor fully in line with the mission of Alex’s Lemonade Stand.”

-Dr. Anna Marie Kenney, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center

“Support from the Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation has allowed us to embark on a totally new research project using technology developed by the Human Genome Project to better understand the causes of childhood cancer. This type of innovative project focused on childhood cancer is rarely funded from government sources.”

-Sharon Plon, MD, PhD, Baylor College of Medicine, Texas Children's Cancer Center

“I am very grateful to the foundation for this generous award, which will advance research into the genetic mutations we believe are responsible for the aggressive nature of neuroblastoma, and help lead to more effective treatment for this devastating diagnosis.”

-Matthew Meyerson, MD, PhD, Director of the Center for Genome Discovery, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute

“The most aggressive brain tumor in children is brain stem glioma, which is particularly difficult to treat, since the tumor cells grow diffusely throughout an essential part of the brain and often cannot be surgically removed. Viruses that have the inherent ability to invade brain tissue can target diffusely growing cancer cells. Funding through Alex’s Lemonade Stand allows us to explore innovative and unconventional concepts in cancer therapy against a particularly devastating pediatric tumor.”

-Dr. Matthias Gromeier, Principal Investigator/Program Director, Dept. of Molecular Genetics & Microbiology, Duke University Medical Center

“The grants range from very basic genetic research to projects focused on clinical applications, but all are directly designed to impact pediatric cancers. These grants are filling an incredibly important void at a time of significantly reduced funding through the National Cancer Institute. It is my firm belief that the research funded by ALSF will translate into significant advances towards finding a cure for a variety of childhood cancers.”

-John M. Maris, MD, Pediatric Oncologist, The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia
Chair of the Medical Board for Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation

"My work focuses on understanding why certain forms of the pediatric cancer rhabdomyosarcoma, a tumor resembling skeletal muscle, are so difficult to treat. In particular, there is a genetic mutation called Pax3-FKHR that appears to increase the risk of dying from this cancer. I have found that Pax3-FKHR allows nonmalignant cells of skeletal muscle origin to ignore environmental cues that ordinarily tell these cells to stop dividing. Funding from Alex’s Lemonade Stand will help me to identify the cellular messages that enable this inappropriate cell proliferation, and perhaps someday identify new molecules that can be used for rhabdomyosarcoma therapy.”

-Dr. Corrine Mary Linardic, Duke University Medical Center

“It has been exciting to be a part of the group Alex and her family has entrusted with the challenge of finding new therapies for neuroblastoma and moving them efficiently into clinical practice to help children. The support from Alex's Lemonade Stand has enabled us to provide more and better services to children and families. My position helps to provide the coordination of services required for treating these children and the counseling and education parents and children need when receiving new therapies.”

-Patricia Brophy, MSN, CRNP, Nurse Practitioner, Pediatric Oncology, The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia

"The support from Alex's Lemonade Stand Foundation is invaluable during this period of my career development. It will provide visibility in my field as well as the resources to generate more data that will allow me to successfully compete for long-term NIH funding."

-Hai Yan, MD, PhD, Assistant Professor, Duke University Medical Center

“As a postdoctoral fellowship grant recipient for Alex’s Lemonade Stand, I will study the critical genetic events that enable metastatic progression of alveolar rhabdomyosarcoma—an aggressive muscle cancer of children. These genetic events will potentially lead to identification of novel targets for non-chemotherapy based treatment strategies. The altruism of young Alex honors all children with cancer, and I am grateful for the opportunity to develop a career which fulfills her vision.”

-Dr. Koichi Nishijo, University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio

“I have walked through the pediatric cancer wards in several countries in Africa.  They are always filled and usually there are more children than there are beds.  Seeing those children drives home to me why the research we do on pediatric cancer is so important. The most common cancer in children in Africa is called Burkitt’s lymphoma.  I am using the funding from Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation to ask why this cancer is so common in Africa.”
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Rosemary Rochford, PhD, SUNY Upstate Medical University

 
"At Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh, our Phase I program receives important support from Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation. This support not only allows us to continue this potentially life-saving work, but also helps families of children who participate in Phase I studies by providing financial support for transportation and lodging. With the teamwork exemplified by the backing of Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation for the research performed at Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh, we hope to provide hope for children with cancer and their families.” 

-A. Kim Ritchey, MD, Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh

“The support of ALSF has allowed us to apply robotic techniques recently developed for the Human Genome Project to better understand why some families have an increased risk of developing childhood cancer.”

-Sharon E. Plon, MD, PhD, Baylor College of Medicine