Boston, MA, July 24, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- National Brain Tumor Society (NBTS), the largest nonprofit dedicated to the brain tumor community in the United States, announced that it will receive a $100,000 Rally for Research Grant from the  Rally Foundation for Childhood Cancer Research  (Rally) to support the organization’s  Defeat Pediatric Brain Tumors Research Collaborative . Rally’s latest grant will supplement a previous $100,000 award announced in 2017.

“Our funding partnership with Rally Foundation is enabling world-class research teams from across the globe to work and collaborate in new ways and accelerate fundamental change in brain cancer research and drug discovery for patients with the highly-aggressive tumors known as pediatric high-grade gliomas,” said, David Arons, Chief Executive Officer, National Brain Tumor Society. “The Collaborative is in the midst of sharing and consolidating mandatory data, establishing common data baselines, cataloging and tracking available models, and further testing drugs both singularly and in combination to expedite next phase efforts to identify of the most viable clinical candidates.”

More than 4,200 children and young adults are diagnosed with a pediatric brain tumor every year, making pediatric brain tumors one of the two most prevalent forms of childhood cancer, along with leukemia. Notably, pediatric brain tumors are the leading cause of cancer-related deaths in children and adolescents under the age of 20, now accounting for three out of every 10 cancer deaths in American kids.

There has never been a drug developed specifically for any pediatric brain tumor and there is no cure. Specifically, for children receiving a pediatric high-grade glioma diagnosis, less than 30% are expected to survive more than five years. For one type of pediatric high-grade glioma, called diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma (or “DIPG”), the prognosis is tragically a survival duration of approximately nine months. There is no standard of care for these children, and thus, there has been little change to survival rates for pediatric high-grade glioma patients in four decades.

The Defeat Pediatric Brain Tumors Research Collaborative is a powerful, unique global research and drug discovery program which aims to accelerate the pace of research discovery and improve pediatric brain tumor patient survival. The Collaborative focuses on discovery, drug development, predictive biomarkers and innovative clinical trials, each driven by world-class research teams from the German Cancer Center, McGill University Health Care System and St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis, under the leadership of Scientific Director, Dr. Roger Packer of Children’s National Medical Center Cancer. Research teams within the Collaborative are required to collaborate and share strategic data or information in order to quickly advance potential therapies through the drug discovery process, as the teams work on these critical areas of research simultaneously and in concert with one another.

“Rally sees itself as providing seed money for the next great discovery,” explained Dean Crowe, founder and CEO of Rally. “We are honored to support the National Brain Tumor Society’s innovative work with the Defeat Pediatric Brain Tumors Research Collaborative in hopes that it will lay foundations for better treatments with fewer long-term side effects and, ultimately, cures for children battling cancer everywhere.”

Rally for Research Grants are awarded through a competitive dual peer review process. The Rally Medical Advisory Board consists of 48 of the top childhood cancer researchers throughout the United States and Canada and assures that the most promising research is funded. Rally funds projects for under-studied childhood cancers, innovative approaches to childhood cancer research that could lead to advanced studies or clinical trials, studies that are likely to lead to a clinical trial, personalized, alternative or integrated research proposals, as well as quality of life and survivorship research. All grants are made in honor or memory of a Rally Kid, a child who has fought or is currently fighting cancer.

About Rally Foundation for Childhood Cancer Research Childhood cancer is the number one disease killer of kids ages 0 to 15. The Rally Foundation for Childhood Cancer Research (Rally), a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, empowers volunteers across the country to raise awareness and funds for childhood cancer research to find better treatments with fewer long-term side effects and, ultimately, cures. Rally received the Independent Charities Seal of Excellence and GuideStar Valued Partner seal, and according to independently audited financials, 93 cents of every dollar raised, supports Rally’s mission (5-year average). For more information, visit  RallyFoundation.org . 

About National Brain Tumor Society National Brain Tumor Society (NBTS) is the largest nonprofit organization in the U.S. dedicated to the brain tumor community. We are fiercely committed to finding better treatments and driving rapid progress toward a cure for brain tumors. We drive a multi-faceted and thoughtful approach to aggressively influence and fund strategic research, as well as advocate for public policy changes, in order to achieve the greatest impact, results, and progress for brain tumor patients. Money raised by the generous donations of our supporters has directly funded groundbreaking discoveries, programs, clinical trials and policy initiatives. To learn more visit  www.braintumor.org

Media Contacts: Marcie Smith Rally Foundation 404-847-1270 (office) marcie@rallyfoundation.org Tom Halkin National Brain Tumor Society 617-393-2849 (office) thalkin@braintumor.org