The research behind the next treatment.
From laboratory testing to clinical trials, each stage of research answers essential questions about how a treatment works, its risks, and whether it could benefit patients.
CureSearch funds preclinical research and early-phase clinical trials with a shared goal: bringing better, safer treatments closer to children with cancer. Through three-year awards, we support promising researchers and the work needed to develop and test new treatment approaches.
Stages of research we fund
Where CureSearch funds the work behind new treatments.
Preclinical Research
Building the evidence for clinical testing
Early-Phase Clinical Trials
Evaluating potential treatments in patients
CureSearch awards supporting this stage
CureSearch award supporting this stage
Funding amounts may vary by award cycle.
Building the evidence for clinical testing.
Before a new treatment approach is tested in patients, researchers study it in the laboratory. They investigate how it works, test its effects in research models, and assess potential risks. This work helps determine whether a promising approach should proceed to clinical testing and informs how those studies are designed.
The goal is to build the evidence needed to bring a promising treatment approach from the laboratory into a clinical trial.
CureSearch supports this stage through our Young Investigator and Acceleration Initiative Awards, funding promising preclinical research aimed at developing better, safer treatments for children with cancer.
Fueling the next generation of leaders in pediatric cancer research.
Our Young Investigator Awards support early-career scientists pursuing innovative pediatric cancer research with the potential to lead to new treatments. These awards invest in both promising science and the next generation of researchers dedicated to improving outcomes for children with cancer.
Advancing promising discoveries toward the clinic.
Our Acceleration Initiative Awards fund preclinical research with the goal of bringing promising treatment approaches into clinical trials within three years. These projects focus on the evidence and development work needed to prepare a new approach for testing in patients.
Evaluating potential treatments in patients.
Clinical trials are research studies involving people. Early-phase trials evaluate a potential treatment’s safety, determine appropriate dosing, and look for early evidence that it may work against cancer.
Phase 1 trials focus primarily on safety, side effects, and dosing. Phase 2 trials further evaluate how well a treatment works while continuing to monitor safety. These studies help researchers determine whether an approach warrants further testing.
CureSearch supports this stage through our Catapult Awards, which fund Phase 1 and Phase 2 pediatric cancer clinical trials.
Bringing potential treatments to the clinic today.
Our Catapult Awards fund early-phase clinical trials evaluating promising treatment approaches for children with cancer. These awards support the transition from laboratory research to clinical testing, where researchers can begin to understand how an approach performs in patients.
Fund the research
Your support funds the research needed to develop and test potential new treatments for children with cancer. Together, we can invest in the science that could change their futures.
Every connection to CureSearch has a story. We’d love to hear yours.
Whether you’ve hiked, given, volunteered, or lived this journey yourself, your story is part of ours.
