Funding Childhood Cancer

Defeating Embryonal Cancer in Young People Together (DECRYPT)

The Defeating Embryonal Cancer in Young People Together (DECRYPT) Research Grant is intended to challenge the current childhood embryonal cancer landscape by providing funding for a research project that will address an unmet need for these pediatric brain cancers.  The DECRYPT grant is designed to fund research that will ideally lead to a significant change in the understanding, diagnosis, and/or treatment of childhood embryonal brain tumours.

The DECRYPT Research Grant is funded by Kindred Foundation, Cancer Research Society (CRS), Phoebe Rose Rocks Foundation, Brain Tumour Foundation of Canada, The Miracle Marnie Foundation, Childhood Cancer Canada, and Tali’s Fund.  This collaboration is built on the shared goal to make significant change for children with embryonal brain tumours by investing in clinical research. Please see the official press release (PDF).

The DECRYPT Research Grant will provide a significant investment of $600,000 CAD for one 4-year research project.  The LOI stage of the grant is now closed and two submissions are moving forward to the full application stage of the grant.  The awardee of the grant will be announced in September 2023.

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 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.

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.