Why We Walk/Run/Ride

A laboratory based out of Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center in Lubbock establishes and banks cell lines (tumor cells growing in the test tube) and patient-derived xenografts (tumors from patients grown in special mice) from childhood cancers. 

These laboratory models of childhood cancer are invaluable to investigators for studying cancer biology and for testing new therapies in the laboratory.  

The repository provides cell lines and xenografts to researchers across the USA and the world (15 countries) and has become the de facto worldwide repository for such childhood cancer models. The National Cancer Institute (NCI), via the Children's Oncology Group (COG) had been providing a small amount of funding for the COG Cell Culture and Xenograft Repository.  
 

The recent cuts in funding the NCI has made to the COG and to other aspects of childhood cancer research have left the repository with no source of funding to continue its valuable work.  

Team Cellbusters is seeking to raise awareness of the need for funding such national resource laboratories for childhood cancer research and, whenever possible, to raise funds to support the repository.

We are extremely honored that Christi's father Shayne Thomas has joined our team, as well as Molly Hollway and her mom Mary.  

Join the Cellbusters Facebook group or Twitter feed to continue the discussion about our team.  

Thanks to Meteorologist Nikki-Dee Ray for promoting our team and AMM on the local Lubbock news segment "Trends and Friends"!

http://www.everythinglubbock.com/story/d/story/ttu-cross-country-teams-up-with-the-health-science/19218/eijLv0a560KMR3SFULKwxw