Initiative to build an exhaustive, accessible brain tumor database gains buy-in from leading pediatric cancer players.
Brain and central nervous system tumors are the deadliest forms of childhood cancer, and the #1 killer by disease of kids in the U.S. Yet there has never been a single drug developed to stop these malignant tumors from taking children’s lives.
For this reason, Bridge To A Cure Foundation is focused on removing key barriers that stand in the way of curing childhood brain cancer. At this year’s halfway point we want to update our supporters on the tremendous progress being made toward a 50% reduction in deaths due to childhood cancer by 2030.
Our 2021 strategic imperatives include:
- Development of an accessible, robust childhood cancer database;
- Establishment of a clinical trial process/protocol designed for children; and,
- Initiation of new approaches to fund childhood cancer research.
Creating a database that contains everything we need to fight childhood brain cancers is our top priority this year.
We’re driving advancement toward building a database that will contain everything we know and need to develop the treatments that successfully fight brain tumors. To this end, we’re relentlessly pushing forward on these key fronts:
Partnership Funding & Counsel
- Pediatric Cancer Database Commons (PCDC): Bridge to A Cure Foundation granted PCDC $50,000 to accelerate the completion of a childhood brain tumor dictionary that gives the scientists, researchers, and oncologists a single, unified vocabulary worldwide for recording and interpreting data.
- Children’s Brain Tumor Network (CBTN): CBTN is a model for the national childhood cancer database Bridge To A Cure is advocating to make a reality. This repository houses more than 50,000 childhood brain tumor samples, making it the country’s largest of its kind. With these records they compile high quality data and make the information available to any researcher worldwide who requests it. Bridge To A Cure is a member of the CBTN Executive Council, helping to push for institutional buy-in and peer foundation support. In June, Bridge To A Cure Foundation provided a
- St. Baldrick’s Foundation: In June, Bridge To A Cure Founder and President Robert Martin joined the board of directors of St. Baldrick’s Foundation, the largest non-government funder ofchildhood cancer research grants. Bridge To A Cure Foundation pitched in $10,000 toward the more than $310 million St. Baldrick’s has raised to fund 1,620 research grants at more than 379 in 29 countries. It is the goal of Bridge To A Cure to influence this important funding organization to support not only research projects, but also development of a robust, unified database from which all researchers can draw.
Resource Building
As Bridge To A Cure Foundation continues to become more invested with these key partners and the childhood cancer community, it has become imperative to develop relationships to fill resource gaps with best-in-class consultants and professional service providers.
Bridge To A Cure has reached its first such agreement with Kirkland & Ellis, one of the world’s largest law firms, to provide pro bono counsel related to the building of a national childhood cancer database. Discussions are underway to secure proven consultants with strategic planning, database monetization, and communications expertise.
Advocacy
- During Brain Tumor Awareness Month in May, we outlined our plan to improve data collection, storage, and access in collaboration with the groups mentioned above, with the goal of eradicating brain tumors in children.
- Gabriella Miller Kids First 2.0 Act: We’re calling on Congress to pass the Gabriella Miller Kids First 2.0 Act, which would fund childhood cancer and disease research in perpetuity without relying on taxpayer dollars. It’s common-sense legislation that can save thousands of lives. To learn more and add your voice to the call on Congress, click here.
- National Cancer Institute: We continue to push for the National Cancer Institute’s Childhood Cancer Data Initiativeto fund consolidation and expansion of childhood brain tumor data to develop a model that can be used for all childhood cancers.
- Database Consortia: There are currently three consortia that have built their own unique databases for pediatric brain tumors: Children’s Brain Tumor Network, Pediatric Brain Tumor Consortium(PBTC) and Pacific Pediatric Neuro-Oncology Consortium(PNOC). Bridge To A Cure is uniquely positioned to work all three groups to achieve our goal of consolidating these three distinct databases into one.
By harmonizing existing clinical research data and leading international efforts to standardize data collection, we’re breaking down long-standing barriers that have held back advancements in research on rare childhood diseases. We also eliminate waste and duplication as we streamline research toward a cure.
Our commitment to creating new efficiencies in children’s brain tumor research extends to our own operations. Bridge To A Cure Foundation is building relationships to supplement resources in areas where we need support, such as contracting pro bono legal support and strategic planning services.
We need your continued support as we continue to leverage our resources toward a bold goal: to unify and transform the pediatric cancer community to reduce childhood cancer deaths 50% by 2030. Please join our momentum to dismantle the barriers that have left children and their families without hope for too long.
