Making Headway Foundation Funds Childhood Cancer Research Grant.

Chappaqua, N.Y. – The St. Baldrick’s Foundation, the largest private funder of childhood cancer research grants, is proud to announce that it has partnered with Making Headway Foundation in Chappaqua, N.Y., to support the best research to find cures and better treatments for kids with cancer.

This year, the Making Headway Foundation is helping to support a $100,000 St. Baldrick’s Research Grant awarded to Danny Reinberg, Ph.D., the Terry and Mel Karmazin Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Pharmacy at NYU School of Medicine and the Perlmutter Cancer Center at NYU Langone Health. Dr. Reinberg will focus his research on diffuse intrinsic pontine gliomas (DIPGs), a type of brain tumor that comes from cells called glia that surround, protect and otherwise support the nerve cells in the brain. DIPGs comprise the most lethal pediatric cancers, being almost completely unresponsive to chemotherapy and intractable for surgical removal.

Dr. Reinberg and colleagues found that DIPG cells have an unusual “epigenetic signature” that contributes to their malignancy and have also identified the function of proteins that specifically recognize and translate this epigenetic feature. Dr. Reinberg and his team are working on a novel therapeutic intervention for DIPGs that entails the identification/generation of reagents that specifically inhibit these proteins from functioning at this DIPG-associated epigenetic signature.

“After providing two years of seed funding, the Making Headway Foundation is very proud to partner with the St. Baldrick’s Foundation to continue this state-of-the-art research grant,” said Daniel Lipka, Making Headway Foundation, Executive Director. “With Dr. Reinberg’s help, we hope to find better treatments and cures for one of the world’s deadliest childhood diseases.”

The Making Headway Foundation supports families of children diagnosed with a brain or spinal cord tumor. It has helped thousands of families through an unimaginably difficult time, providing a wide range of holistic programs and services. Making Headway carries on with its unique work, providing a continuum of services that focus on both research and quality of life for children and their families. In 2019, Making Headway has partnered with the St. Baldrick’s Foundation to fund the best childhood cancer research.

About Making Headway Foundation
Making Headway Foundation was founded with a unique mission that emphasizes the importance of helping children through holistic, wide-ranging services. We provide a true continuum of care, in which our programs are able to effectively assist patients, families, and doctors. The needs of a child with a brain or spinal cord tumor are complex and diverse. Making Headway meets these needs through a variety of individual care, family care, and medical care. We invest in both long-term and short-term solutions to the medical and emotional needs of the families we serve. Our flexibility and pro-active philosophy has led to a growth in services, allowing Making Headway to provide Care, Comfort, and a Cure to more families than ever before. To learn more about the Making Headway Foundation, visit us at MakingHeadway.org.

About St. Baldrick’s Foundation
As the largest private funder of childhood cancer research grants, the St. Baldrick’s Foundation believes that kids are special and deserve to be treated that way. St. Baldrick’s is leading the charge to take childhood back from cancer by funding the most brilliant childhood cancer research experts who are working to find cures and better treatments for all childhood cancers. Kids need treatments as unique as they are – and that starts with funding research just for them. Join us at StBaldricks.org to help support the best cancer treatments for kids.