| Project title | Cure Brain Cancer Foundation’s 2016 Contribution to the DIPG Collaborative |
|---|---|
Grant Amount | $58,950 |
Institution | Several |
Investigator Team | Several |
Grant Type | Collaborative Grant |
Years | 2016 – 2017 |
The DIPG Collaborative is made up of over 20 foundations cooperatively funding $1-2 million to DIPG research every two years. Cure Brain Cancer Foundation is a proud Foundational Partner of the Collaborative and allocated $58,950 to the Collaborative in 2016. In 2016, the DIPG Collaborative awarded $484,679 to 4 world-class research projects.
- Grant 1: Radiosensitisation of Diffuse Intrinsic Pontine Gliomas by modulating the glucose metabolism (Dr. Han Shen, Children’s Cancer Institute, $143,884)
- Grant 2: Allele-specific antisense therapy for DIPG (Dr. Adrian Krainer, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, $100,000)
- Grant 3: Exploring the interactome of H2K27M to find therapeutic targets for DIPG (Dr. Cynthia Hawkins, The Hospital for Sick Children, $194,260)
- Grant 4: Ultrasound-induced delivery of Panobinostat in preclinical models (Dr. Jacques Gill, Gustave Roussy Cancer Center, $46,535)
“The DIPG Collaborative is a collection of foundations with the shared mission of efficiently funding and inspiring DIPG cancer research with the belief that through a cure for DIPG, significant advances in other cancer research will be made.”
Mission of the DIPG Collaborative
Progress
Cure Brain Cancer Foundation funds for the DIPG Collaborative were allocated to Dr. Han Shen’s grant at the Children’s Cancer Institute. His progress is outlined below;
Modulating glucose metabolism is an effective strategy for radiosensitizing DIPG treatment. DCA is a promising and effective compound to improve the radiosensitivity of DIPG cells. The radiosensitising efficacy of DCA can be further enhanced by the addition of metformin. Therefore, dual-targeting of glucose metabolism is a more efficacious strategy of radiosensitisation. We will be evaluating the efficacy of phenformin, a biguanide derivative that has more potent anti-tumour efficacy compared to metformin, alone and in combination with DCA and radiotherapy using DIPG models.