Our Impact
The Lilabean Foundation has raised over $5,000,000 for Pediatric Brain Cancer Research!
$5 Million Raised for Research
16 Research Projects LBF has helped to Fund
300+ 11FOR11 Members
LBF is proud to support projects at the Brain Tumor Institute at Children's National Medical Center, Children's Brain Tumor Network, and other organizations around the country to eradicate childhood brain cancer through collaboration and raising awareness.
Together, we can make a change.
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Our Work with Childhood Brain
Tumor Network (CBTN)
LBF Commits $650,000 to CBTN's Project Accelerate to Advance Precision Research
LBF is a proud member of the Executive Council for CBTN, an organization that uniquely brings together leaders from the clinical, research, and patient communities to better understand brain tumor biology and develop precision strategies to treat each child's tumor. In 2021 LBF made a $650,000 three year commitment to Project Accelerate, a project that will advance the pace of translational research and the discoveries of new treatments for children and young adults with brain cancer.
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Learn more about the projects at CBTN here.
Our Continued Work with Long-Time Partner, Children's National Hospital
Over the last 11 years, LBF has given over 1.5 million dollars to the Brain Tumor Institute at Children's Nation Hospital to support a variety of important research projects.
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In 2022, LBF pledged $480,000 over three years to support a pivotal new role in the lab of Dr. Javad Nazarian at Children's National Hospital. The DMG/DIGP Research Lab Program Manager will be instrumental in maximizing research opportunities, activity, and collaboration by coordinating the projects within Dr. Nazarian's lab to increase productivity and accelerate discovery of clinically translatable therapies for children with brain cancer.
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Progress of other Projects LBF has Funded
Clinical Trials
Low Grade Glioma Research
Research Supporting Discovery of Protein Biomarkers in Cerebrospinal Fluid
Medulloblastoma Research
DIPG Research
LBF supported the development of a Phase 1 clinical trial run by PNOC, in partnership with Novartis Pharmaceuticals and led by Dr. Lindsay Kilburn from Children’s National Hospital (CNH). This trial builds on many years of research to bring a novel clinical trial to children with recurrent Low-Grade Glioma and to provide important data on the use of this combination therapy which may be translated to use in other cancers related to children and adults.
LBF supported research in the lab of Dr. Brian Rood at CNH to discover the role of proteogenomics in Low Grade Gliomas. Low Grade Gliomas are the most common type of childhood brain cancer and are increasingly being recognized as immunologically ‘hot’ tumors.This research established that Low Grade Gliomas have novel genetic events that give rise to tumor specific proteins. This work is ongoing.
A biomarker is a molecule, most commonly a protein, that can be measured in the body to gain information about a disease. LBF supported research to identify and quantitate hundreds of proteins present in the cerebrospinal fluid of children with brain tumors compared to healthy children. Cancerous tumors (cells) make novel proteins that were not originally part of their toolkit, and we are funding pioneering research to determine if these biomarkers can detect tumor recurrence.
Medulloblastoma is a malignant brain tumor of the cerebellum. This fast growing tumor can spread to other areas of the brain and spinal cord through cerebrospinal fluid making it necessary for aggressive treatment. With funding from LBF, researchers at the Brain Tumor Institute (BTI) at Children’s National Hospital were able to create the Labeled Atlas of Medulloblastoma Proteins (LAMP), a master reference atlas of thousands of proteins across the different subgroups of the disease. Additionally, LBF supported the Human Proteome Atlas Stable Isotope Labeling in Cell Culture (SILAC) project which allowed for the creation of a reagent making it possible to quantitate proteins in medulloblastoma cell lines.
DIPG is a highly aggressive and difficult to treat brain tumor that is found at the base of the brain. There are currently no effective treatment options for this type of brain tumor. The laboratory of Dr. Javad Nazarian, supported by the Lilabean Foundation, established a liquid biopsy platform to detect mutations associated with DIPG. They were able to successfully demonstrate the feasibility of liquid biopsy in both subtyping a child’s cancer as well as the ability to monitor the tumor response in a clinical trial. Check out this recent manuscript documenting this work that was published Neuro-Oncology Journal.
“The heartache and grief of hearing ‘your child has cancer’ is unimaginable to us. What is more, heartbreaking is knowing that so few treatments exist specifically for children. Children should be able to run, play, and live free of the worries we have as adults! Knowing that for $11 a month we can make a difference to children and parents in this devastating situation is a no brainer, so please join us as 11for11 members and offer hope to these families!”
Melanie and Will Dickerson, Richmond, VA