New Duke Cancer Center funded by PBTF
DURHAM, N.C. -- A $6 million award from the Pediatric Brain Tumor Foundation will establish and fund a new institute at Duke’s Comprehensive Cancer Center that will be devoted exclusively to pediatric brain tumor research.
The primary goal of the new Pediatric Brain Tumor Foundation Institute at Duke will be to develop innovative and less invasive clinical treatments for children diagnosed with brain tumors.
The $6 million award from the non-profit Pediatric Brain Tumor Foundation, based in Asheville, N.C., is the foundation’s largest award ever. The 20-year-old Foundation is the largest non-governmental source of funding for pediatric brain tumor research in the world. The $6 million award also represents the largest foundation award ever received by the Duke Comprehensive Cancer Center.
"This award from the Pediatric Brain Tumor Foundation will allow our researchers to aggressively pursue their studies to establish better treatment and care of children with brain tumors," said Ralph Snyderman, M.D., chancellor for health affairs and president and CEO of the Duke University Health System. "The Pediatric Brain Tumor Foundation has had a long and extraordinarily supportive relationship with Duke, and we are extremely grateful for their confidence in us and for their outstanding work to fight pediatric brain tumors."
Brain tumors are the most deadly of all childhood cancers. While about 60 percent of children with brain tumors survive at least five years from the time of diagnosis, this figure has improved only slightly in the past 25 years. Current treatment is often toxic to the normal brain, and survivors often have significant problems in brain and spinal cord function. Research has yielded innovative treatment possibilities, including new diagnostic and therapeutic strategies.
Darell Bigner, M.D., Ph.D., the Edwin L. Jones Jr. and Lucille Finch Jones Cancer Research Professor and deputy director of the Duke Comprehensive Cancer Center, has been named director of the Pediatric Brain Tumor Foundation Institute at Duke.
"This gift will make a significant impact on our ability to continue our research and care in the most effective manner," said Bigner. "The creation of this Institute will provide us with the means to continue this fight against pediatric brain tumors and to make critical progress.”
Mike Traynor, president of the Pediatric Brain Tumor Foundation, said his organization "has worked tirelessly to raise money and contribute those funds in the most effective way to develop new research and treatment options for pediatric brain tumors. We hope this research institute will be the first of many."
"Duke offers a wonderful collaboration between the scientific community and patients, and we firmly believe that there is no better person than Dr. Bigner to lead this effort dedicated to the eradication of brain tumors."
About the Pediatric Brain Tumor Foundation (PBTF)
The Pediatric Brain Tumor Foundation funds medical research grants to help find the cause and cure of childhood brain tumors. The PBTF has a long history of funding innovative research initiatives in to fast forward research on behalf of children with brain tumors. In 1991, the Foundation provided an eight-year founding grant that created the Central Brain Tumor Registry of the United States (CBTRUS), the largest U.S. brain tumor database. In 1998, the Foundation provided a founding grant to the Society of Neuro-Oncology to establish the international medical journal Neuro-Oncology. To encourage the development of the neuro-oncology field, the PBTF funds national and international brain tumor conferences, including the 2002 International Symposium on Pediatric Oncology in London, England and the 2003 15th International Conference on Brain Tumor Research and Therapy in Sorrento, Italy.
The PBTF has a Family Support Program that includes a full-time Family Support Program Coordinator, a toll-free help line, patient education and resource materials, the Informed Parent Internet Conference series, a post-secondary scholarship program for brain tumor survivors, and an informative Foundation web site. With significant funding from the Ride for Kids® program, started in 1984 in Atlanta, Georgia, the PBTF has become the largest source of non-governmental funding for pediatric brain tumor research in the world. The Ride for Kids® celebrates its 20th anniversary season this year with 26 rides across the U.S. For further information about the PBTF or its programs, please call 828-665-6891or log on to www.pbtfus.org.
About the Duke Comprehensive Cancer Center
The Duke Comprehensive Cancer Center was one of the nation's first cancer centers to be established with the December 1971 passage of the National Cancer Act, in which Congress authorized federal funding to build 15 cancer centers nationwide and expand the programs of four existing cancer centers. In 1973, the Cancer Center was designated a comprehensive cancer center by the National Cancer Institute. The "comprehensive" status recognized the center for its excellence in research and for other contributions in the areas of clinical trials, prevention and control efforts, information and educational offerings, and outreach and service activities.
The Brain Tumor Center at Duke, established in 1937, was one of the first brain tumor research and clinical programs in the United States and is one of the leading pediatric and adult neuro-oncology programs in the world. The Brain Tumor Center is one of two brain tumor research programs designated by the National Institute of Neurological Diseases and Stroke and offers more active clinical trials than any other treatment center. Duke University Medical Center is one of the 10 medical centers involved in the National Cancer Institute (NCI) Pediatric Brain Tumor Consortium, which evaluates promising new treatments to help speed the development of innovative, technically challenging therapies.
Pediatric Brain Tumor Foundation of the United States
302 Ridgefield Court
Asheville, NC 28806
828-665-6891
800-253-6530
828-665-6894 (fax)
e-mail: pbtfus (at) pbtfus (dot) org
website: www.pbtfus.org
