For Immediate Release
Contact:
Tessa Gatz
Communications Director
(240) 235-2204 | tessa.gatz@curesearch.org
BETHESDA and SAN FRANCISCO – CureSearch for Children’s Cancer and the Parker Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy announced a collaborative effort in which each entity will contribute funding, resources and infrastructure to support children’s cancer research. The collaboration will co-fund clinical phase high potential pediatric cancer immuno-oncology projects to accelerate the development of better, less toxic children’s cancer treatments.
“We are thrilled to partner with Parker Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy as the leading expert in the field of immuno-oncology to collaboratively identify, fund, and advance the strongest children’s cancer research,” said Laura Thrall, CEO of CureSearch for Children’s Cancer.
The Parker Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy (Parker Institute) and CureSearch for Children’s Cancer (CureSearch) recognize the urgency to develop novel, less-toxic therapies for pediatric cancer. The Parker Institute’s state-of-the art clinical, translational and analytic capabilities combined with CureSearch’s expertise in pediatric cancer will help address this critical need more quickly.
“CureSearch is highly recognized as a leader in funding research and innovation for pediatric cancer,” said Ramy Ibrahim, M.D., vice president of clinical development at the Parker Institute. “Our missions closely align and we are eager to identify research opportunities for collaboration to get much needed treatments to children with cancer.”
Both entities will utilize their respective expertise to determine which research projects are most likely to provide real-world impact in the near term. CureSearch and the Parker Institute will seek out strong immunotherapy projects that are bold and disruptive to make the biggest impact on the treatment of children’s cancer.
Decisions on project funding will be the work of a joint steering committee made up of scientific and industry leaders from the Parker Institute and CureSearch.
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About CureSearch for Children’s Cancer
CureSearch for Children’s Cancer, a national nonprofit organization based in Bethesda, Md., works to end childhood cancer by driving targeted and innovative research with measurable results in an accelerated time frame. CureSearch focuses on advancing the strongest research out of the laboratory and into clinical trials and development, where better, less-toxic treatments can quickly help children.
For more information, visit curesearch.org or curesearchsuperheroes.org, follow CureSearch on Twitter @curesearch or join the conversation on Facebook at www.facebook.com/curesearch.
About the Parker Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy
The Parker Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy brings together the best scientists, clinicians and industry partners to build a smarter and more coordinated cancer immunotherapy research effort.
The Parker Institute is an unprecedented collaboration between the country’s leading immunologists and cancer centers. The program started by providing institutional support to six academic centers, including Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, Stanford Medicine, the University of California, Los Angeles, the University of California, San Francisco, the University of Pennsylvania and The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. Recently, the institute also initiated programmatic support for top immunotherapy investigators, including a group of researchers at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Robert Schreiber, Ph.D., of Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, Nina Bhardwaj, M.D., Ph.D., of the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and Phil Greenberg, M.D., of the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center.
The Parker Institute network also includes more than 40 industry collaborations, more than 60 labs and more than 300 of the nation’s top researchers focused on treating the deadliest cancers.
The goal is to accelerate the development of breakthrough immune therapies capable of turning most cancers into curable diseases. The institute was created through a $250 million grant from The Parker Foundation.
Media Contacts
CureSearch for Children’s Cancer: Tessa Gatz, tessa.gatz@curesearch.org
Parker Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy: Anna Prince, aprince@parkerici.org