Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation, a nonprofit group dedicated to finding cures for all children with cancer, has named four researchers 2012 recipients of the “A” Award. Christopher Vakoc, MD, PhD, of Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory; Roland Walter, MD, PhD, of the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center; Myron Ignatius, PhD, of Massachusetts General, and Grant Challen, PhD, of Washington University were chosen as the 2012 recipients of the grant which totals $375,000 for each over the course of 3 years. The doctors’ research will focus on various leukemias, with the exception of Dr. Ignatius who will examine rhabdomyosarcoma.
The grant designed to jump-start the careers of promising scientists in the pediatric cancer field will provide each researcher with $375,000 for his research.
The ‘A’ Award, created in 2009, seeks to find the best and brightest young researchers and encourage them to build lifelong careers in the pediatric cancer field. “Since its inception, Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation has been dedicated to finding cures for all kids with cancer,” said Jay Scott, Co-Executive Director of the Foundation. “Through promising projects like [those of these researchers], we know that we are on the right course to not only finding those cures, but bettering the lives of children facing cancer both now and in the long term.” ■
