DDRFA commits $50,000 over two years to the Children’s Brain Tumor Network (CBTN).

DDRFA commits $50,000 over two years to the Children’s Brain Tumor Network (CBTN). “We believe patient data is powerful in guiding researchers to develop better treatments for our kids,” said Kirsten Finley, co-founder of Cannonballs for Kayne. DDRFA will provide direct input as part of CBTN’s Executive Council. Working with CBTN’s Executive Council, DDRFA seeks to prioritize access, machine learning, and opportunities for precision medicine in DIPG DMG. Perhaps only cancer parents would take immediate action upon learning there were only 61 fully sequenced DIPG tumors available in the largest open database in the world. “What about other donated tumor samples? CBTN was waiting for funding to sequence them,” explained Mina Carroll, co-founder of Storm the Heavens. “After researching all other shareable registries, none had more data. The sequencing of mutations and such was not reaching the researchers who needed it through an openly query-friendly database,” explained Carroll. “In response, we contacted The Broad Institute through Count Me In to ask for help. The Broad Institute agreed and then the incredible CBTN staff received an additional whopping $40M NIH grant to sequence all 6500 pediatric brain tumor-related specimens. This is the biggest data cohort in ALL pediatric cancer.” explained Lisa Ward. CBTN is now firmly established as THE largest biorepository of open, shareable, most precious de-identified tissue and data. The following Members of DDRFA made this grant possible: Arms Wide Open Childhood Cancer Foundation; Cannonballs for Kayne; Hope for Harlee Fund; Dean’s Dream Foundation; Mithil Prasad Foundation; Morgan Adams Foundation; Storm the Heavens; and Tough2gether Against DIPG. If you would like to support DDRFA’s investment in CBTN, please donate -https://tinyurl.com/ddrfadonate to DDRFA. Learn more about the Children’s Brain Tumor Network here: https://cbtn.org/ #DDRFA #becauselivesdependonit #FundDMGTogether #DDRFAPoweredbyfamilies #DIPGWontWait #Goldstrong #CancelChildhoodCancer