Funding Childhood Cancer Initiatives

The Olivia Luna Brown Fighting Chance Grant

Cannonball Kids’ cancer Foundation (CKc) Young Investigator Grant in Partnership with Kindred Foundation

The goal of CKc’s Young Investigator Grant is to fund innovative research that is within 2-3 years of translation to a clinical trial or is already associated with a clinical trial. It focuses on funding research on pediatric cancers that are either underfunded or under-researched that aim to provide better quality of life or symptom relief than current treatments. Kindred Foundation is proud to partner with Cannonball Kids’ cancer Foundation to co-fund The Olivia Luna Brown Fighting Chance Grant, a $140,000 CAD Young Investigator Grant that will be funded over the next three years.

Dr. Anirban Das | SickKids, Toronto

Biomarker development for combined PD1+LAG3 inhibition in RRD glioblastoma

Glioblastoma (GBM) is a type of brain tumour where treatments like surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation often don’t work. Recently, a subtype of GBM was found to be caused by DNA replication errors that lead to many mutations. Sometimes these mutations can be targeted by immunotherapy and while immunotherapy helps some patients, new treatments are needed for others. Dr. Das’ and his team created mouse models of this GBM and tested new immunotherapy combinations, showing promising results. Now, they are studying the immune response in these tumours and have approval to try the therapy in children. They will also analyze biomarkers to confirm how the immune system is reacting. If successful, this therapy could be tested in larger trials and become the new standard treatment for this deadly disease.

Leukemia and Lymphoma Society of Canada: Pediatric Blood Cancer Innovation Grant

The LLSC Pediatric Blood Cancer Innovation Grant challenges the current pediatric blood cancer treatment paradigm to address gaps and improve outcomes.  Kindred Foundation is proud to partner with LLSC again in 2024 to co-fund an application focused on pediatric acute myeloid leukemia (pAML). 

Kindred Foundation's contribution to this grant is beyond special.  Some of the funds were raised by Kat Ast and Jeff Kindree in memory of their son Bo who died from AML just days after his third birthday in 2019.  Bo was diagnosed with pAML at 11 months old and was treated at BC Children's Hospital.  Together, we are honoured to support the following pAML research initiative in Bo's memory:

Dr. Grace Egan | SickKids, Toronto

The role of XPO2 in leukemia development in childhood and adolescent AML

Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is a difficult-to-treat leukemia that develops in children, teens, and adults and is associated with high relapse rates. Many of the chemotherapy medicines that are used in AML target both leukemia and healthy cells, resulting in many side effects for patients. New agents are needed that better target leukemia cells, while protecting normal non-cancerous cells.

The nucleus of a cell is where the cell gets the instructions on how to behave, grow and divide. Cancer develops because cells grow abnormally and do not respond to stop signals in the nucleus. If proteins move into or out of the nucleus at the wrong time, they can give faulty instructions to the cell that can contribute to cancer development. These proteins enter and exit the nucleus with the help of transporters, known as importins and exportins. Many of these importins and exportins have not been studied in leukemia.

We recently discovered that high levels of the exportin, XPO2, are associated with worse outcomes in childhood and adolescent AML. This study will identify the role of XPO2 in leukemia development in childhood and adolescent AML. We will determine if certain genetic subtypes of childhood and adolescent AML are more reliant on XPO2, and thus more likely to benefit from therapies that stop this exportin from working.

Funded in memory of Bo with Kindred Foundation

100% Fund: Funding Osteosarcoma, Rhabdomyosarcoma and Infant Leukemia Research

Nearly one in five children diagnosed with cancer will not survive. For children with rare and hard-to-cure cancers, the odds can be far worse. The 100% Fund was created to challenge these odds. Phoebe Rose Rocks Foundation, Fight Like Mason Foundation, AnnFrances Tropea Foundation, Mélia’s Memory, Team Finn, Eli’s Childhood Cancer Foundation, Kindred Foundation and Childhood Cancer Canada have partnered to fund research for children and teens who do not, yet, have their cure.  The 100% Fund targets pediatric and adolescent cancers that are hard-to-cure cancers that have not responded to available therapies. The goal is to fund research with the potential to deliver improved treatment and increased survival rates.  The C17 Research Network administers these grants.

With the support of CMLS Financial and Intellifi Corporation and fundraising through Project Kindness 2023, CMLS Financial and Intellifi raised $41,000 to go towards these grants!  Kindred Foundation has also committed to fund $25,000 towards the 100% Fund grants for rhabdomyosarcoma and osteosarcoma.  Each 100% Fund grant provides $100,000 for a two-year research project.

Congratulations to the three 2024 100% Fund grant recipients:

Dr. Rebecca Deyell, BC Children’s Hospital | Osteosarcoma

Dr. Rebecca Deyell of the BC Children’s Hospital was awarded $100,000 for her grant entitled: “Impact of Body Composition and Pharmacogenomics on Toxicity and Survival outcomes in Childhood Bone Sarcoma”  A 100% Fund grant funded in partnership with The AnnFrances Tropea Foundation and Kindred Foundation, with support from Childhood Cancer Canada and C17 Council. ($35,000 total from Kindred Foundation, including Project Kindness)

Dr. Rebecca Gladdy, Lunenfeld-Tanenbaum Research Institute | Rhabdomyosarcoma

Dr. Rebecca Gladdy of the Lunenfeld-Tanenbaum Research Institute was awarded $100,000 for her grant entitled: “Modelling the molecular spectrum of RMS: creating subtype specific models that are metastatic and immunocompetent”  A 100% Fund grant funded in partnership with Eli’s Childhood Cancer Foundation, Fight Like Mason Foundation and Kindred Foundation, with support from Childhood Cancer Canada and C17 Council. ($30,000 total from Kindred Foundation, including Project Kindness)

Dr. Jongbok Lee, University of Calgary | Infant Leukemia

Dr. Jongbok Lee of the University of Calgary was awarded $100,000 for his grant entitled: “Developing novel off-the-shelf CAR-T cell for relapse/refractory infant AML”  A 100% Fund grant funded in partnership with The Phoebe Rose Rocks Committee with Kindred Foundation, and Mélia’s Memory Foundation, with support from Childhood Cancer Canada and C17 Council. ($90,000 total from the Phoebe Rose Rocks Committee at Kindred Foundation)

The ACTION Consortium: Funding Neuroblastoma Cancer Research

We are excited to announce the first Research Funding Award by the ACTION Consortium. Founded by five non-profit organizations: The Anticancer Fund, The Evan Foundation, Kindred Foundation, Solving Kids’ Cancer UK and Zoé4Life.  The ACTION Consortium is a collective force committed to Advancing Clinical Trial Implementation and Optimisation in Neuroblastoma (ACTION).

Our debut funding call is focused on refractory and relapse neuroblastoma, a hard-to-cure solid tumour cancer most often diagnosed in children.  The grant calls for innovative approaches to accelerating clinical trials and the evaluation of novel therapies. By pooling our resources to form the ACTION Consortium, this award will be one of the largest seen in the neuroblastoma field, standing at $2 million USD. Our aim is to challenge the scientific community to bring proposals with the potential to instil significant change to the neuroblastoma landscape, which will directly and positively impact children facing this devastating disease.

Kindred Foundation is honoured to partner with the ACTION Consortium to help push forward on the treatment of relapsed and refractory (hard-to-cure) neuroblastoma.  Funding from Kindred Foundation will ensure that the research and clinical trial that is ultimately funded by this grant will be implemented in Canada.  Canada plays a significant role in international childhood cancer research; however, far too often Canadian children do not get access to innovative clinical trials.  Kindred Foundation is funding the Canadian operations of this grant, providing $450,000 USD (~$600,000 CAD) over four years.

This feat of international collaboration has been born from the shared values and missions of our five organizations- to drive and invest in clinical research that addresses the areas of most unmet need within childhood cancer and bring better treatment to children as rapidly as possible. We are excited to be entering into this partnership for the benefit of children with neuroblastoma and look forward to seeing this award progress.

This grant call has been developed and funded by the ACTION Consortium and is being managed by Solving Kids’ Cancer UK on behalf of consortium partners.  For additional information, please see our one-page summary on the ACTION Grant (PDF).

Childhood Blood Cancer Research Innovation Grant

In 2022, Kindred Foundation partnered with The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society of Canada to co-fund two childhood blood cancer research innovation grants.  We are proud to announce the two projects that we co-funded:

Dr. Cynthia Guidos | SickKids, Toronto 

Identifying the Genetic Changes that Lead to Ruxolitinib Resistance 

Modern chemotherapy regimens can cure acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) in most children, adolescents, and young adults. Unfortunately, outcomes remain poor for children whose ALL is caused by certain high-risk genetic mutations, known as Ph-like ALL. This subtype occurs very commonly in children and is more frequent in individuals of Hispanic/Latino and Indigenous ancestry. Ph-like ALL often comes back even with the best available chemotherapy.  

A new targeted therapy called ruxolitinib was created to block an important pathway that contributes to the cancerous behaviour of Ph-like ALL cells. A phase 2 clinical trial is ongoing to test whether adding ruxolitinib to chemotherapy can decrease relapses in children with Ph-like ALL. However, some children have already relapsed, suggesting that their leukemia cells found a way to outsmart the drugs and become resistant.  

In this project, the researchers are studying blood and bone marrow samples from pediatric Ph-like ALL participants in the clinical trial. They hope to learn why leukemia cells can sometimes outsmart the drugs and lead to relapse, either by developing DNA mutations or rewiring the pathways inside the cells to hide from the drugs. The results will be used to identify new therapies that attack other leukemia cell targets with a goal of overcoming or even preventing resistance to ruxolitinib in patients with Ph-like ALL. 

Dr. Florian Kuchenbauer | BC Cancer, Vancouver  

MiR-193a-Based LNP Drug Treatment for Pediatric Acute Myeloid Leukemia 

Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is a blood cancer with poor outcomes. Currently, treatment still relies on chemotherapies which have an impact on the physical and mental development of children.  

COVID-19 and mRNA-based therapeutics used to treat it have changed the world. Key to their success was the

encapsulation of mRNAs within liposomal nanoparticles (LNPs).  

Dr. Kuchenbauer’s research group and others have recently highlighted the potential of microRNA (miRNA) encapsulated LNPs to target specific mutations in leukemias, with fewer side effects. The team’s previous data showed that miR-193a (a gene associated with cancer) is significantly decreased in pediatric normal karyotype AML (CN-AML) . In CN-AML, it has been shown that engineered over-expression of miR-193a slowed down the

development of AML.  

An LNP-miR-193a-3p-based drug (INT-1B3) is currently being studied in a clinical trial for solid tumours and the researchers will be testing this drug in pediatric CN-AML models. They aim to pioneer novel LNP-miRNA-based formulations for the treatment of pediatric AML. This innovative approach will help to reduce the chemotherapy burden on children, improve treatment outcomes, and help to foster normal development in a frail and underserved population.

You can read more on The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society of Canada website.

Fit ABCS Clinical Trial for Childhood Brain Cancer Survivors

In 2022, a clinical trial will run that uses the Fit ABCS portal to develop exercise training for childhood brain tumour survivors. The goal is to gather feedback on the tool to further improve and refine the Fit ABCS portal and to learn more about how the brain changes because of exercise. The information gathered from this clinical trial will help to provide the basis for a larger national clinical trial using Fit ABCS with children across Canada.

The clinical trial is currently accepting children and youth who are between 6-17 years of age, were diagnosed with a brain tumour 1-15 years ago, are medically stable and meet English language requirements (additional exclusion criteria may apply). Ultimately, the Mabbott Lab hopes that Fit ABCS will be an effective tool to develop exercise programs for children and youth with a brain injury due to treatment of a childhood brain tumour and, in time, children and youth with other types of brain injuries.  Kindred Foundation is helping to fund this clinical trial.

For more information, please read how Kindred Foundation is supporting research that is happening at The Mabbott Lab at the Hospital for Sick Children.