Washington University

Lay Summary: While other types of pediatric leukemia have enjoyed tremendous improvement in survival, infants who get leukemia still have less than 50% chance of survival, and survivors often suffer long term side effects from their treatment. Infant leukemia (IL) develops during pregnancy and has unique characteristics that are poorly understood. While mutations are an important feature of cancer, IL samples possess exceptionally few mutations – not enough to account for the number of cases.

Enhancing the therapeutic efficacy of chimeric antigen receptor T cells for acute myeloid leukemia

Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML)

Background

T cells can be genetically engineered to target a specific cell surface marker that is present on cancer cells, and this form of therapy, termed chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cells, has been highly successful in the treatment of pediatric acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). We propose to adapt CAR T cell therapy to meet the unmet needs of children with acute myeloid leukemia (AML), a disease with suboptimal clinical outcomes.

Defining the Molecular Mechanisms Underlying Pediatric Brain Tumor Penetrance

Astrocytoma, Optic Nerve Glioma, Predisposition

Lay Summary: As we enter into an era of precision pediatric oncology, it is becoming increasingly important to identify the factors that underlie the risk of brain tumor development. This challenge is particularly relevant for individuals with cancer predisposition syndromes like neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1), where 15-20% of children born with a germline NF1 gene mutation develop optic pathway gliomas (OPGs).

Identifying subgroups at risk for childhood cancer death: A latent class analysis

General Pediatric Cancer

Mentor: Dr. Kimberly Johnson

Alex's Lemonade Stand Foundation for Childhood Cancer