Canuso Foundation Innovation Award Established in 2010

In 2010, the Canuso Foundation donated $50,000 to the Center for Childhood Cancer Research (CCCR) at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. Dr. Stephen Hunger is Chief of Oncology at Children’s Hospital, and the Director of the CCCR. The CCCR is focused on curing all forms of childhood cancer through an integrated program of basic, translational and clinical research.

With our donation, the CCCR created the Canuso Foundation Innovation Award, which is designed to provide critical and significant seed funding for an investigator with a novel and promising project in the CCCR. The grant generated significant interest in the Division of Oncology and resulted in the submission of a number of worthy grant applications. A panel of senior investigators within the CCCR determined the winner. We are pleased to announce that the first grant has been awarded to Alix E. Seif, MD, MPH, who crafted a compelling proposal for a research project that will study novel approaches to generate autologous immune control of pediatric acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) and the project has great potential to deliver high impact science. For more information on Dr. Seif, click on the attached link and see a summary of his research proposal, including a personal statement.

We look forward to our continued partnership with Children’s Hospital and the CCCR and we join in their quest to eradicate childhood cancer. Children’s Hospital has created a unique environment in which the best science becomes the best medicine. Financial support is the engine that powers every discovery, every advance, and every step closer to a cure.