Along with our promise to McKenna to find a cure for DIPG, we here at McKenna Claire have also promised to do our part to raise awareness and be advocates for all childhood cancers.  With the thought that our voices and our funds are more powerful when united, we began looking for a way to partner with other foundations in order to make funding and advocacy more effective.

We were thrilled when we found St. Baldrick’s receptive to the partnership concept, effectively allowing small foundations to continue to honor their children and their cause while helping to make a bigger impact on research than working alone.  To that end, McKenna Claire Foundation has partnered with St. Baldrick’s, donating $50,000 to of the $115,000 grant given to fund research by Dr. Christopher Gamper of Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center’s.  Dr. Gamper’s research focuses on immunotherapy and decreasing the late effects of treatment by reducing the need for chemotherapy and radiation for children with cancer. “Pediatric oncologists are coming close to understanding how to harness the power of the immune system to help fight and cure cancer,” said Dr. Gamper. “We believe that using drugs that block DNA methylation will enhance anti-cancer vaccines and will use our extended St. Baldrick’s funding to help us test this theory.”  Dr. Gamper adds, “Harnessing the immune system to help fight cancer holds the promise of curing difficult-to-treat cancers while sparing children from the toxicity of chemotherapy and radiation.”

We are grateful to St. Baldrick’s for launching this program, and it is our hope that as we continue to build on the partnership concept that we will be able to deliver more effective, less invasive treatments to our children who so desperately need it.

For more information please visit: http://www.stbaldricks.org/blog/post/St-Baldricks- Foundation-partners-with-the-McKenna-Claire-Foundation