Two Hutchinson Center scientists who research pediatric cancers have been awarded grants from the St. Baldrick’s Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to raising awareness and funds for childhood cancer research. The Clinical Research Division’s Dr. Scott Diede received a three-year $330,000 scholar grant. Dr. Suzanne McGoldrick, a pediatric hematology and oncology fellow, received a two-year award worth $148,577.
Diede treats pediatric cancer patients at Seattle Children’s and is an acting clinical instructor in the University of Washington Department of Pediatrics. He said he will use his award to study epigenetic changes in pediatric cancer, specifically how aberrant DNA methylation contributes to the formation of pediatric rhabdomyosarcoma.
McGoldrick works collaboratively with Dr. Colleen Delaney in the Clinical Research Division’s Riddell Lab. She will continue to focus on why one blood unit dominates after a double cord blood transplant.
St. Baldrick’s, based in Southern California, awarded more than $12.8 million to fund pediatric oncology researchers in 47 states. The grants, announced on July 14, provide research funding for a wide variety of childhood cancers including neuroblastoma, osteosarcoma, brain and spinal cord tumors, Ewing’s sarcoma, leukemia and others. Foundation funding will also be used to conduct promising research, improve access to clinical trials and continue to provide support for the next generation of leading pediatric oncology researchers.
