Texas Children’s Faculty Secure $3.2M in Recent Research Grants

Texas Children’s Cancer & Hematology Center is proud to celebrate faculty who have recently secured a total of over $3.2M in competitive research grants supporting innovative projects across cancer biology, immunotherapy, disease monitoring, and cancer susceptibility. These awards will advance new strategies to improve outcomes for children and adolescents with cancer and serious blood disorders.

The following Principal Investigators and projects were recently awarded funding (pictured above, left to right by row):

• Carl E. Allen, MD, PhD 
  Curing Pediatric Langerhans Cell Histiocytosis: Testing Synergy of Chemotherapy and MAPK Inhibition 
  Funding Agency: Pediatric Cancer Research Foundation
• Austin L. Brown, PhD, MPH 
  Exploring the role of immune dysregulation on Hodgkin lymphoma susceptibility 
  Funding Agency: Jeffrey Pride Foundation
• Lisa S. Kahalley, PhD 
  Radiation Dose-Volume Associations with Neurocognitive Change in Pediatric Brain Tumor Patients Treated with Proton vs. Photon Radiotherapy 
  Funding Agency: Cancer Prevention & Research Institute of Texas (CPRIT)
• Bilal A. Omer, MD 
  Toward Durable Remissions: Gene-Edited GD2-CAR T Cells to Overcome Resistance in Pediatric Brain Tumors 
  Funding Agency: The Faris Foundation
• Debananda Pati, PhD 
  Advancing P27600: A Novel Plant-Derived Compound for Treating Ewing Sarcoma 
  Funding Agency: Kate Amato Foundation
• Michele S. Redell, MD, PhD 
  Updated Disease Monitoring & Treatment to Enhance Pediatric AML Outcomes 
  Funding Agency: Cannonball Kids’ Cancer Foundation
• David H. Steffin, MD and Helen E. Heslop, MD, DSc (Hon) (not pictured) 
  Cancer Adoptive Cellular Therapy (CAN-ACT); Administrative Supplement to Specialized Programs of Research Excellence (SPORE) in Lymphoma (P50) 
  Funding Agency: National Institutes of Health (NIH)
• Gengwen Tian, MD, PhD 
  Enhancing GD2-CAR NKT Anti-Tumor Efficacy against Neuroblastoma through Targeting BLIMP1 
  Funding Agency: The Andrew McDonough B+ Foundation
• Andrew A. Wahba, MD 
  Early Career Award Program: Advancing Pediatric Cancer Immunotherapy with CAR-NKT Cells 
  Funding Agency: Thrasher Research Fund

We thank these funding agencies and our dedicated faculty for their commitment to advancing care and research for young patients. Their work and collaboration allow Texas Children’s to continue its mission to lead in pediatric cancer and hematology innovation.

Learn more about previous research grants here: https://www.texaschildrens.org/content/awards/recent-grant-funding-texas-childrens-cancer-hematology-center