Nemours' New Research Center Focusing on Pediatrics

LYNNE JETER

Nemours' New Research Center Focusing on Pediatrics | Nemours Center for Childhood Cancer Research, Ayyappan K. Rajasekaran, Vicky Funanage, Tijuana Flats, Just in Queso, Pediatric Cancer Foundation, Smack My Ass and Call Me Santa!

Next Challenge: Targeting Specific Molecules on Cancer Cells Vital to Cancer Progression

With a mission of combating childhood cancer, the Nemours Center for Childhood Cancer Research (NCCCR) recently opened its newest center in Wilmington, De., where Nemours, one of the nation's largest pediatric health systems, has a significant presence.

Nemours Biomedical Research's newest Center of Excellence builds upon the strengths of several Nemours research laboratories and programs—also located in Jacksonville, Orlando and Pensacola, Fla.—to benefit patients and others similarly affected by cancer. Nemours is capitalizing on the network of these programs to study and develop new therapies.

Pediatric Cancer Foundation Special Events and Fundraisers

Just in time for Christmas, Tijuana Flats and its "Just in Queso" Foundation selected the Pediatric Cancer Foundation (PCF) to benefit from its annual holiday hot sauce promotion. The special edition hot sauce "Smack My Ass & Call Me Santa!" sells for $5 per bottle, with 100 percent of the proceeds benefiting PCF. The hot sauce is available at all 65 restaurant locations in Florida, Indiana, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Virginia, and online at www.tijuanaflats.com. Last year, Tijuana Flats raised more than $75,000 for the Make-A-Wish Foundation. This year, the company's goal for the holiday charitable initiative is $100,000.
"Our company enjoys giving back to the children in our communities, and what better way to do so this holiday season than by raising money to help children with life threatening medical conditions," said Brian Wheeler, founder of Tijuana Flats.
Barbara Rebold, executive director of PCF, said the company's generosity and commitment to the community has provided PCF with a unique opportunity to share its mission with Floridians.
"We're honored to have been selected for Tijuana Flats' annual holiday program," she said. "We appreciate their partnership and look forward to working with them in the future to help end childhood cancer."

Coming Up in 2009

Fashion Funds the Cure is billed as "not your average fashion show." As a testament to this claim, special celebrity guest Carson Kressley of "Queer Eye for the Straight Guy" and "How to Look Good Naked" will undoubtedly rouse the crowd when Saks Fifth Avenue and Mercedes Benz-USA host the springtime Fashion Funds the Cure in Tampa on March 10 at Saks at Westshore Mall.
On April 7, Fashion Funds the Cure will come to Saks Fifth Avenue at the Florida Mall in Orlando, presented by Saks and Mercedes Benz-USA.
"Join us as we pay tribute to the amazing children in our community who are battling cancer," said Rebold.

"There have been many advances in cancer therapies over the past 30 years resulting in more children being cured today than ever before," said Paul Gordon, MD, pediatric hematologist/oncologist with Nemours Children's Clinic in Orlando. "Our next challenge is the expansion of newer, more precise therapies, targeted to specific molecules on cancer cells that are vital to cancer growth and progression. These exciting new therapies will take our efforts to the next level."

The center's goals, said NCCCR director Ayyappan K. Rajasekaran, PhD, include laying the groundwork for using multiple approaches to develop a well-integrated system to produce more effective, less toxic treatments and better patient management for childhood cancers. Working collaboratively with Nemours clinicians, the center's new methods will be applied in a timely manner to improve care for children with neuroblastoma, leukemia, brain tumors and other cancers. The 10-year plan calls for NCCCR to be accredited as a National Cancer Institute Pediatric Center.

"The immediate goal of NCCCR is to integrate the basic and clinical cancer research facilities at the Nemours centers in Delaware and Florida to build a larger cancer research facility focused on childhood cancer," said Rajasekaran. "Our vision is to become one of the nation's leading cancer research centers for diagnosis and treatment of childhood cancers."

More specifically, research findings could translate into better cancer detection and treatment providing new potential targets for therapy. The NCCCR will combine all cancer research efforts enterprise-wide, across all disciplines, integrating patient care, new drug discoveries, clinical trials and health prevention and clinical management experts, researchers and physicians.

"For a cancer patient not responding to existing therapies, the promise of new therapy lies in research and we're excited about what Nemours will be able to do for children," said Vicky Funanage, PhD, director of Nemours Biomedical Research. "Our greatest hope is to understand the underlying cause of childhood cancers in order to develop new therapies."

Nemours owns and manages the Alfred I. duPont Hospital for Children in Wilmington, De., and major children's specialty clinics in the Wilmington metro area, Florida locations, and also Pennsylvania (Philadelphia and Bryn Mawr) and New Jersey (Atlantic City and Voorhees). With Certificate of Need (CON) approval from the State of Florida, Nemours, which will soon establish a new full-service children's hospital in Orlando, has 430 pediatric physicians, specialists and surgeons on staff.

The center was established in January 2008, and includes a fully renovated laboratory facility with space for 50 researchers. Equipped with high-tech equipment needed for cell biology, genetic engineering, in vivo imaging, biomarkers and drug discovery, a tumor and serum bank will be established at the NCCCR to facilitate research focused on validation of biomarkers for childhood cancers.

"The NCCCR will recruit talented researchers doing basic cancer research with a translational focus," explained Rajasekaran. "The goal of our basic research studies is to develop biomarkers for diagnosis and novel drugs for the treatment and cure of childhood cancers. We'll be actively involved in all aspects of cancer research, professional education, and community involvement needed to enhance cancer outcomes for children."

University of Delaware undergraduate and graduate students, along with other college representation, will receive advanced training in cancer cell biology from center faculty. Also, the NCCCR will host several educational symposia on cancer awareness and education in Delaware.

"Four to five decades ago, the survival rate for childhood cancer was only about 40 percent," said Rajasekaran. "Now, 80 percent of childhood cancers can be cured. With concerted efforts toward translational research, we could achieve a 100 percent cure rate in the future. Research is the key for early diagnosis, better treatment, and to finding cure for childhood cancers. I hope you will join hands with our efforts to eradicate childhood cancers and support our mission to help children and families with cancer."