Under Pediatric Clinical Trials Director Gigi Moore-Higgs, multiple new clinical trials have opened for children with recurrent disease who have very few other options for treatment. In addition, several supportive care trials to find better treatment for chemotherapy-related side effects have begun, and the department has partnered with pharmaceutical companies to broaden the trial portfolio. Faculty members have submitted a number of new grants to support investigator-initiated clinical trials and have also been very successful.
Currently, only about 4% of federal research dollars go to pediatric cancer research. Other research funding from private groups and pharmaceutical companies is overwhelmingly directed to adult cancers. This Stop Children’s Cancer funding, directed specifically to children’s cancer, fills a critical need.