Texas Children’s Faculty Earn More Than $5.6M in Recent Research Grants

Texas Children’s Cancer & Hematology Center is proud to recognize faculty who have recently secured more than $5.6 million in new research funding to advance care for children fighting cancer or serious blood disorders.

The funded projects span a wide range of scientific and clinical focus areas, including pediatric brain tumor biology, immunotherapy, advanced imaging technologies, and large-scale genetic and epidemiologic studies. 

The following Principal Investigators and projects were recently awarded funding (pictured L-R, top to bottom):

Mohammad H. Abu‑Arja, MD, MSc (TXCH Profile) (pictured with Rahawa G.)

• Targeting the Neurovascular Niche in Group 3 Medulloblastoma

  Funding Agency: Rally Foundation for Childhood Cancer Research

• Targeting Medulloblastoma Stem Cells Using Protogenin-Specific CAR T Cells

   Funding Agency: Matthew Larson Foundation

Waleed Gaber, PhD (TXCH Profile)

• Regulatory T Cells and Bronchopulmonary Dysplasia-Associated Pulmonary Hypertension

  Funding Agency: National Institutes of Health (NIH)

Ionela Iacobas, MD (TXCH Profile) (pictured with Darla Espinoza, RN)

• VISTA-YMPH: Visual Imaging System for Tracing and Analyzing Lymphatics with Photoacoustics

  Funding Agency: Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H)

Melissa A. Richard, PhD (TXCH Profile)

• Microphthalmia, Anophthalmia, and Coloboma Genetic Epidemiology in Children (MAGIC) Study

  Funding Agency: National Institutes of Health (NIH)

•  A US-UK Collaborative Study of the Health of Children Born from In Vitro Fertilization: From Conception Through Childhood

  Funding Agency: National Institutes of Health (NIH)

Sarah Scollon, MS, CGC (TXCH Profile)

• Testing a novel method of engagement in research dissemination: Deliberative collaboration among patients and healthcare leaders

  Funding Agency: Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI)

Tamra E. Ogilvie, PhD (TXCH Profile) (pictured with Baoqi He)

•  Alumni Visionary Grant: Identifying New Therapeutic Targets for Group 3 Medulloblastoma Metastasis

  Funding Agency: Rally Foundation for Childhood Cancer Research

We thank these funding partners for making this work possible. Their support enables our faculty to advance innovative research that continues to strengthen care today and build a stronger foundation for the future of pediatric health.

Learn more about previous research grants here.