This grant program represents the first time that a research grant opportunity has been linked to an AACR scientific achievement award. The goal of the AACR-St. Baldrick’s Foundation Award for Outstanding Achievement in Pediatric Cancer Research initiative is to spotlight significant scientific accomplishments, while simultaneously fostering the career advancement of early-stage pediatric cancer researchers. It is intended to stimulate an ongoing mentor-mentee relationship between the awardees and the grant recipients.

Once selected, the awardee is afforded the opportunity to nominate junior faculty level researchers at any academic institution in the world to be considered to receive a one-year, $75,000 AACR-St. Baldrick’s Foundation Pediatric Cancer Research Grant. Candidates must have demonstrated promise for continued substantive contributions to pediatric cancer research. From the list of candidates provided by the awardee, a grant recipient is chosen by the award selection committee.

2024 grantee

Research

Dr. Shawn Lee’s research focuses on advancing precision medicine in pediatric acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) through pharmacogenomics and immunogenomics. He aims to develop population-specific, personalized therapies to improve cure rates and reduce toxicities, particularly in resource-limited settings. His work includes elucidating pharmacological diversity across ALL genomic subtypes and defining optimal risk groups in these various subtypes. He is involved in large-scale genomic profiling efforts in South-East Asia, such as the Ma-Spore cohort, with goals of next-generation, pharmacotype-guided trials. He also explores genetic variations contributing to treatment toxicities across racial and ethnic groups, addressing disparities in outcomes.

Biography

Dr. Lee graduated with MBBS from Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore in 2011 where he was awarded the Wong Poi Kwong Medal for Clinical Medicine. He went on to obtain his Master of Medicine (Paeds) and MRCPCH (UK) in 2015. He received his Master of Clinical Investigation in 2019. In 2019, he was awarded the Singapore NMRC Research Training Fellowship iand pursued a leukemia genomics fellowship at St Jude Children’s Hospital in Memphis, USA, earning his doctoral degree in 2024. He is currently a physician-scientist at the National University Health System, a Consultant Pediatric Oncologist at the National University Hospital, and an Adjunct Assistant Professor (Junior Academic Fellow) at the National University of Singapore.

Acknowledgement of Support

“This grant is vital as it supports my translational pharmacogenomics research in childhood ALL. Having roles and collaborations in Singapore and USA, I am uniquely positioned to bridge global populations and treatments. This grant empowers me to advance personalized therapies from the West/higher-income countries to improve leukemia outcomes globally for our patients, particularly here in the South-East Asian region. I am immensely grateful to AACR for allowing me to embark on my goals to translate pharmacogenomic discoveries into impactful treatments for diverse global populations.”

2023 grantee

Research

Cutting edge techniques in molecular pathology are transforming the standards of cancer care. Dr. Church’s research and clinical practice focus on molecular profiling to support the care of children with cancer. She has demonstrated that sequencing technologies have a significant impact on making the right diagnosis and in selecting the correct targeted treatment for children with cancer.

Biography 

Dr. Church received her master‘s and medical degrees at Queen’s University, Canada, before completing her residency in anatomic pathology at the same institution. She then moved to Boston to complete her education in both molecular genetic pathology and pediatric pathology at Harvard Medical School. She stayed at Boston Children’s Hospital as the founding director and the Associate Director of the Laboratory for Molecular Pediatric Pathology (LaMPP). She is currently the Program Director for the Harvard Molecular Genetic Pathology Fellowship and the Chair of Training and Education for the Association for Molecular Pathology.

Acknowledgement of Support

“I am so honored and grateful for this award. This grant will support my mission to bring the power of molecular profiling from research labs directly to the clinical care of children battling cancer, giving them the best available treatment, which each child deserves.”