Types of Research Funded by PBTF
The Pediatric Brain Tumor Foundation (PBTF) seeks hypothesis-driven research applications that demonstrate a high level of scientific merit while focusing on determining the causes of brain tumors in children and finding novel, less-invasive approaches to treating children.
The Pediatric Brain Tumor Foundation uses a peer review process to evaluate the scientific merit of grant applications. The review process is based upon the scientific scoring methods used by the National Institutes of Health.
An important difference between the PBTF grant program and that of the NIH is that we award revolutionary funding, not strictly evolutionary funding. That is, we fund grants that demonstrate exciting and innovative possibilities. Our grants require taking a leap of faith to begin to prove the researcher's case in hopes of generating additional funding from other, traditional sources. For example, many researchers funded by PBTF have subsequently received RO1 grants from the National Cancer Institute based upon evolutionary results generated by revolutionary ideas funded by the PBTF.
The PBTF has supported basic research in pediatric and adult brain tumors. Little is known about pediatric brain tumors because there is a relatively small patient population compared with adult cancers. Consequently, there has been a shortage of both funding and researchers. The PBTF is addressing this shortfall by supporting basic research focused on pediatric brain tumors as well as translational research that attempts to take research discoveries from adult brain tumor research and apply them to pediatric brain tumors. Along the way the PBTF has funded quality-of-life research for pediatric brain tumor patients. Our programs combine all of these types of research under these "program project" type research awards from the PBTF.
