Nemours Children’s Health scientists receive two NIH grants to advance pediatric cancer research

Nemours Children’s Health researchers have received two grants from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) totaling $5 million. They include a $3.3 million NIH R01 grant awarded to Kimberly Canter, PhD, Research Scientist, Center for Healthcare Delivery Science (CHDS), Nemours Children’s Health, Delaware, to test the effectiveness of an eHealth intervention. the Electronic Surviving Cancer Competently Intervention Program (eSCCIP), which provides psychosocial care to English- and Spanish-speaking parents and carers of children with cancer, and a $1.7 million NIH R01 grant awarded to Sigrid Langhans, PhD, Senior Research Scientist, Head of the Cancer Epidemiology Research Laboratory, Nemours Children’s Hospital, Delaware, to investigate targeting of mechanosignaling pathways in pediatric brain cancer.

I congratulate all of the incredible work that has been done to secure each of these transformational grants awarded by the NIH. Nemours Children’s Health is committed to advancing pediatric cancer research in all areas, including diagnostics, treatments and care, as part of the Nemours continuum of care.”

Mary M. Lee, MD, FAAP, Nemours Children’s Chief Scientific Officer and Chief Physician in the Delaware Valley

A randomized controlled trial of eSCCIP: an eHealth psychosocial intervention for English- and Spanish-speaking parents of children with cancer: 3.3 million NIH R01, Kimberly Canter, PhD, research scientist, Center for Healthcare Delivery Science, Nemours Children’s Health, Delaware

As principal investigator, Dr. Canter lead a team of Nemours collaborators, including Anne Kazak, PhD, Enterprise Director, CHDS, Steven Reader, PhD, Psychologist, Kamyar Arasteh, PhD, Senior Research Scientist and Biostatistician, Aimee Hildenbrand, PhD, Clinical Psychologist, and Karen Wohlheiter, PhD, child psychologist to evaluate the effectiveness of an eHealth intervention, eSCCIP, to provide psychosocial care to English- and Spanish-speaking parents and carers of children with cancer. Parents and carers of children with cancer are at high risk for multiple psychosocial problems and this online intervention is important in providing a more accessible way to deliver care when face-to-face interventions can be difficult.

Mechanosignaling in pediatric brain cancer: $1.7 million NIH R01, Sigrid Langhans, PhD, senior research scientist, chief of the cancer epidemiology research laboratory, Nemours Children’s Hospital, Delaware

A collaboration with the University of Delaware, Dr. Langhans and co-investigators Darrin Pochan, PhD, Professor & Chair at the University of Delaware, Karen Sperle, MS, Research Associate at Nemours Children’s Health, Rahul Nikam, MD, Radiologist at Nemours Children’s Health, and Xuyi (Kevin) Yue, PhD , research scientist at Nemours Children’s Health, will address the need for more effective therapies for childhood brain cancer, especially for the most common brain cancer medulloblastoma, a tumor that originates in the cerebellum. The team uses an innovative 3D cell culture approach compatible with high-throughput automated screening to evaluate mechanosensitive signaling pathways that have emerged as potent targets in cancer drug discovery, including for the treatment of medulloblastoma. This research work will provide new opportunities for developing therapeutic approaches for medulloblastoma by laying the groundwork for a future high-throughput drug discovery approach utilizing these innovative 3D pediatric brain cancer models.

Nemours Children’s employees are still recognized by the NIH as being uniquely positioned in the industry to conduct thoughtful, effective research and encourage new researchers in transformative fields.

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Nemours Child Health