Grants We've Fulfilled
Many people are unaware that there are 16 major forms of childhood cancer (with hundreds of subtypes), so while some of the more common forms of childhood cancer (such as acute lymphoblastic leukemia, ALL) have seen progress over the years, other types of childhood cancer have the same low chance of survival as they did decades ago (DIPG, a form of pediatric brain cancer has a 0% survival rate).
Each year Infinite Love chooses a different form of childhood cancer to focus our fundraising efforts on, and since no two childhood cancers are the same, financial research grants are given based off of a competitive peer review process. The number of the grants we can award depends on how much money we were able to raise the previous year. Each year, at least one of our research grants is awarded in honor of one of our childhood cancer fighters.
By utilizing Proposal Central and this peer review process, we're able to award the grants to the highest scoring applicants, which means that we are always funding the best of the best for that particular form of childhood cancer.
Please help us honor the thousands of children who are fighting, the survivors, the children who have died, and for those who have yet to be diagnosed by supporting our efforts today. Thank You.
Each year Infinite Love chooses a different form of childhood cancer to focus our fundraising efforts on, and since no two childhood cancers are the same, financial research grants are given based off of a competitive peer review process. The number of the grants we can award depends on how much money we were able to raise the previous year. Each year, at least one of our research grants is awarded in honor of one of our childhood cancer fighters.
By utilizing Proposal Central and this peer review process, we're able to award the grants to the highest scoring applicants, which means that we are always funding the best of the best for that particular form of childhood cancer.
Please help us honor the thousands of children who are fighting, the survivors, the children who have died, and for those who have yet to be diagnosed by supporting our efforts today. Thank You.
Grants funded in 2024 (with 2023 donations).
$275,000 Michael Norman, Mikey completed his second fight against AML in April 2024 and is currently being monitored. Michael Norman's Bio Coming Soon. Grant 1 - $25,000 to Dr. Ani Deshpande at the Stanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute for his work targeting Chromatin Control of Leukemia Stem Cell Identity (in relapsed AML) Grant 2 - $25,000 to Dr. Ian Delahunty at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital for his work capitalizing on functional genomics with targeted protein degradation regarding neuroblastoma. Grant 3 - $50,000 to Dr. Michael Ortiz at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center for his "Clinical translation of an XPO1 dependency in select pediatric solid tumors (Wilms Tumor)." This grant is to continue our 2022 support of the incredible work that Dr. Michael Ortiz is doing for Wilms research. Bonus Grant 4 - $100,000 to the Children's Brain Tumor Network (CBTN) run out of the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. Led by Dr. Jay Storm, the CBTN is furthering collaborative pediatric brain tumor research at the Network's 23 member institutions worldwide, enabling faster progress and more children's lives saved. The following grants were fully funded thanks to the "Love for Luca" fundrasing team (to include the Love for Luca 5K and Hockey in Middletown). Luca Iacono, forever 11, continues to inspire countless people, all while moving mountains in the childhood cancer research community. #ForeverLucaStrong
Grant 5 - $25,000 to Dr. Yanbin Zheng at the University of Texas - Southwestern Medical Center for their proposal "Ectopic PLAG1 plus loss of p53 drives rhabdomyosarcoma." This grant is to continue the support Love 4 Luca gave to Dr. Yanbin Zheng last year. Grant 6 - $25,000 "Outside the Box" grant for rhabdomyosarcoma to be announced in July 2024. Grant 7 - $25,000 "Outside the Box" grant for rhabdomyosarcoma to be announced in July 2024. |
Grants funded in 2023 (with 2022 donations).
$250,000 JOEY DUGARY, post treatment from brain cancer and currently being monitored. Joey's Bio Coming Soon. Grant 1 - $25,000 to Dr. Erin Runbeck at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, for her work "Targeting PRAME with peptide-centric CAR T cells in pediatric malignancies," research that is relevant to a number of cancer types including neuroblastoma, glioblastoma, and Ewing sarcoma. This $25,000 is a repeat grant. Grant 2 - $25,000 to Dr. Nina Weichert-Leahey, at the Dana Farber Cancer Institute, for her proposal "Epigenetic reprogramming of neuroblastoma enhances differentiation." Grant 3 - $50,000 to Dr. Michael Ortiz at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center for their Wilms Tumor proposal "Clinical translation of an XPO1 dependency in select pediatric solid tumors." Bonus Grant 4 - $100,000 to the Children's Brain Tumor Network (CBTN) run out of the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. Led by Dr. Jay Storm, the CBTN is furthering collaborative pediatric brain tumor research at the Network's 23 member institutions worldwide, enabling faster progress and more children's lives saved. The following grants were fully funded thanks to the "Love for Luca" 5 K fundrasing team. Luca Iacono, forever 11, continues to inspire countless people, all while moving mountains in the childhood cancer research community. #ForeverLucaStrong
Grant 5 - $25,000 to Dr. Patience Odeniyide of the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, fore their proposal "Identifying drivers of treatment resistance in HRAS-mutant rhabdomyosarcoma." Grant 6 - $25,000 to Dr. Yanbin Zheng at the University of Texas - Southwestern Medical Center for their proposal "Ectopic PLAG1 plus loss of p53 drives rhabdomyosarcoma." |
Grants funded in 2022 (with 2021 donations).
$300,000 LUCA IACONO Forever 11 "Luca was a fighter, with strength to the very end, and never gave up. He was wise beyond his years and taught those around him not to waste a single moment, to always smile, be happy, and that life was a gift not to be wasted." - Michele Iacono Grant 1 - $50,000 to Dr. Arun Singh at the Cleveland Clinic Foundation for his work regarding a novel interventional drug delivery of local chemotherapy for Retinoblastoma. Grant 2 - $25,000 to Dr. David Langenau at Massachusetts General Hospital for his work reversing multi-drug resistance in Rhabdomyosarcoma. Grant 3 - $25,000 to Dr. Erin Runbeck at The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia for her work targeting PRAME with peptide-centric CAR T cells in pediatric malignancies. Bonus Grant 4 - $100,000 to the Children's Brain Tumor Network (CBTN) run out of the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. Led by Dr. Jay Storm, the CBTN is furthering collaborative pediatric brain tumor research at the Network's 23 member institutions worldwide, enabling faster progress and more children's lives saved. Bonus - $100,000 to Oncoheroes Biosciences, a Boston based biotech company, for their focus on advancing new therapies and drugs specific to rare, or more complicated, childhood cancers. |
Grants funded in 2021 (with 2020 donations).
$175,000 OSTEOSARCOMA + MORE SONA KOCINSKY Currently in remission, Osteosarcoma Sona was diagnosed with osteosarcoma in November 2019, at the age of 16, with her biopsy the day before Thanksgiving. Over the past year she underwent intensive chemo as well as a surgery to remove the tumor. Thankfully she is currently in remission and continuing with immunotherapy. "My life was turned upside down, and it required a lot of adapting as it has not been an easy road. I am still adapting, but thanks to the wonderful doctors, surgeons, nurses and staff at Memorial Sloan Kettering, I am currently cancer-free! Some of my favorite activities are soccer, running, painting, playing piano and hanging out with my sister and friends." Now 17 and a senior in high school, Sona has been helping other children battling cancer! She recently participated in Infinite Love's Spin 4 Kids fundraiser and raised over $12,000, when she had an original goal of $1,000! See Sona's interview with Infinite Love's VP Jim McCaffrey to hear more about Sona, her story, and Team Sona with her friend Ella as they went for it!! Grant 1 - $25,000 to Dr. Adam Durbin at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital for his work regarding preclinical chemical interrogation of EP300 in high-risk osteosarcoma. This is the one that involves the compound with ZERO toxicity! Grant 2 - $25,000 to Dr. Jason Yustein at Baylor College of Medicine for his work dissecting and targeting the WNT Pathway in metastatic osteosarcoma. Grant 3 - $25,000 to Dr. Lindsey Talbot at St. Jude Children's Hospital for her research regarding efficacy of chemokine-mediated CAR T cell homing in immunocompetent systems. Grant 4 - $25,000 to Dr. Samuel Volchenboum at the University of Chicago for his work building the osteosarcoma data commons. Bonus Grant 5 - $75,000 to the Children's Brain Tumor Network (CBTN) run out of the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. Led by Dr. Jay Storm, the CBTN is furthering collaborative pediatric brain tumor research at the Network's 23 member institutions worldwide, enabling faster progress and more children's lives saved. |
Grants funded in 2020 (with 2019 donations).
$265,000 LYMPHOMA + MORE JACK STELLA, Currently in remission, Burkitt Lymphoma "Jack is the type of child who is able to thrive under the worst of circumstances. He is a kind, empathic soul, who rarely doesn't have a smile on his face, and who loves everyone. He is opinionated, strong, and persistent, traits I've always said will promise success in his future. Little did I know Jack would be forced to prove these qualities far sooner. Jack was diagnosed with Burkitt Lymphoma at six years old. He finished treatment on his seventh birthday, but devastatingly relapsed two months later. He has since successfully completed salvage chemo and underwent a stem cell transplant. Not two weeks after transplant I found myself jogging after him in the hospital halls pleading with him to slow down as he played "bumper cars" with his IV pole. Jack rarely feels bad for himself, and continues to find happiness and joy in every day. One cannot explain how inspiring it is to watch someone fight a battle with so much grace. I am truly honored to be his mother." - Erin O'Donoghue Grant 1 - $50,000 to Dr. Mitchell Cairo of New York Medical College for his work in combinatorial targeted and humoral cellular immunotherapy in Burkitt Lymphoma. Grant 2 - $25,000 towards Dr. Satyaki Sengupta's (Dana-Farber Cancer Institute) research for the epigenetic mechanisms underlying immune evasion in neuroblastoma. *Repeat Grantwinner! Grant 3 - $25,000 towards Dr. Muxiang Zhou's (Emory University) research of the discovery and development of a new MYCN inhibitor MX69-61. *Repeat Grantwinner! Grant 4 - $25,000 towards Dr. Viraj Sanghvi's (Memorial Sloan Kettering) research for the understanding and blocking NRF2 oncoprotein in hepatoblastoma. Grant 5 - $25,000 towards Dr. Jason Yustein's (Baylor College of Medicine) research for the dissecting and targeting the WNT pathway in metastatic osteosarcoma. Grant 6 - $25,000 towards Dr. Xiaolei Su's (Yale University) research towards the molecular mechanism of chimeric antigen receptor signaling in leukemia. Grant 7 - $50,000 towards Dr. Alessandro Fanzani's (Universita' Degli Studi Di Brescia, Italy) research towards targeting caveolin-1 in embryonal rhabdomyosarcoma. Bonus Grant 8 - $40,000 to the Children's Brain Tumor Network (CBTN) run out of the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. Led by Dr. Jay Storm, the CBTN is furthering collaborative pediatric brain tumor research at the network's 23 member institutions worldwide, enabling faster progress and more children's lives being saved. |
Grants funded in 2019 (with 2018 donations).
$200,000 NEUROBLASTOMA + More WES PAK, Forever 12 Wes Pak fought cancer for more than half of his life and while he and his Mom Krista, Dad Myong, two younger brothers Ebin + Eli and his baby sister Madison resided in Virginia, Wes’s second home became Memorial Sloan Kettering in New York City where he is treated regularly. With over 120 flights under his belt getting to and from NYC, Wes endured more in his young life then any grown adult could ever imagine. We couldn’t possible list everything that he endured for the past 7 years while in treatment, but just to name a few Wes had 10 major surgeries, 40+ weeks of chemotherapy, over 30 cycles of radiation, hundreds of blood + platelet transfusions, suffered seizures, brain damage, lost his left adrenal gland and kidney, part of his pancreas, a piece of his liver, a small portion of his small bowel, and his colon had to be taken apart twice and put back together. As we said, this is just a portion of what this incredibly strong and determined little boy went through. Grant 1 - $25,000 towards Dr. Anthony Faber's (Virginia Commonwealth University) research investigating the safety and efficacy of SHP2 inhibitor drugs in high-risk neuroblastoma patients. Grant 2 - $25,000 towards Dr. Xingguo Li's (University of Rochester) research for PRMT1 as a therapeutic target in neuroblastoma with the hopes of, "making neuroblastomas more amenable to therapy and neuroblastoma patient survival the rule, rather than the exception." Grant 3- $25,000 towards Dr. Robert Schnepp's (Emory University) research for targeting the LIN28B-PBK Axis in neuroblastoma. Grant 4 - $25,000 towards Dr. Satyaki Sengupta's (Dana-Farber Cancer Institute) research for epigenetic mechanisms underlying immune evasion in neuroblastoma. Grant 5 - $25,000 towards Dr. Wei-Tien Tai's (Boston Children's Hospital) research for CATR T-cell therapy for neuroblastoma. Grant 6 - $25,000 towards Dr. Muxiang Zhou's (Emory University) research for selective small-molecule inhibitor in neuroblastoma (originally $50,000, second half reallocated to 2019 grants). Grant 7 - $25,000 towards Dr. Malgorzata Krajewska's (Dana-Farber Cancer Institute) novel therapeutic strategy in neuroblastoma. Bonus Grant 8 - $25,000 to the Children's Brain Tumor Network (CBTN) run out of the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. Led by Dr. Jay Storm, the CBTN is furthering collaborative pediatric brain tumor research at the network's 23 member institutions worldwide, enabling faster progress and more children's lives being saved. Left to right (Infinite Love team): Linda Verdone, Jim McCaffrey, Dr. Jay Storm, Sue Levy Funck, Andrea Verdone Gorsegner. |
Grants funded in 2018 (with 2017 donations).
$225,000 RHABDOMYOSARCOMA (RMS) + More MIA ROSE MCCAFFREY, Forever 6 "Mia Rose was a vibrant and sweet 6 year old who was as courageous and strong as she was optimistic and beautiful. Her crystal blue eyes were her defining feature and drew in any with the guts to stare her down. She was a natural born star, and when empowered could captivate an audience. Mia was a natural care giver. She would always look out for anyone who seemed shy, apprehensive or scared. She had a sense for it, most notably with her brother who frequently would find Mia's arm or hand on his shoulder. His strength comes from her. This strength was also significant for her parents, because she showed them what true power was. Even in the final moments of life, she was determined to fight without being held or coddled, despite their attempts. They are so proud of the person she was." - The McCaffrey Family Grant 1 - $50,000 toward Dr. Lin Xu's (UT Southwestern Medical Center) research in identifying new therapeutic target genes and drug combination strategies to improve the treatment of RMS. Grant 2 - $50,000 toward Dr. Filemon Dela Cruz's (Memorial Sloan Kettering) research in targeting the P13K/AKT/mTOR axis in MYOD1 - mutant RMS. Grant 3 - $50,000 toward $50,000 towards Dr. Lingling Chen's (Johns Hopkins University) research to investigate the TME of RMS in hopes of understanding the mechanisms by which it is able to escape immune detection. Grant 4 - $25,000 toward Dr. Eleanor Chen's (The University of Washington) research to characterize the role of specific DNA alternations in RMS and to ultimately identify important therapeutic targets to improve survival of RMS patients. Grant 5 - $25,000 toward Dr. Alessandra Welker's (Massachusetts General Hospital) research to test new antibody drugs and small molecules that block PlexinA1 signaling. Bonus Grant 6 - $25,000 toward Dr. Charles Keller III's promising research regarding wilms tumor (Children’s Cancer Therapy Development Institute). |
Grants funded in 2017 (with 2016 donations).
$100,000 WILMS' TUMOR CAROLINE, Currently being monitored "Caroline was so excited to start kindergarten. She would get off the school bus beaming. But just two weeks later, we received the devastating news that she had stage IV kidney cancer. We have always been in awe of her. Caroline loves Star Wars, being with her family, swimming in her pool, and cuddling with her pet lion, Simba. These days you can often find her along the path at a local park learning to ride her bike." - Lisa (mom) Grant 1 - $100,000 toward Dr. Charles Keller III (Children's Cancer Therapy Development Institute) for his research into the functional genomics of anaplastic Wilms' Tumor. Children with the anaplastic variant of the disease tend to respond poorly with much lower survival rates and for those who do survive the result is significant long term side effects. This preclinical study seeks to characterize the genomic landscape of Wilms' and explores novel drug combinations which might be more effective and less toxic for children with anaplastic disease. The ultimate goal is to develop a strong rationale for the use of this novel drug combination in clinical trials for children with anaplastic Wilms' tumor. |
Grants funded in 2016 (with 2015 donations).
$175,000 BRAIN CANCER HANNAH DUFFY, Forever 14 "From the minute Hannah was born, it seemed as though she had a job to do…curious from her first moments, always interested in what was going on around her. Her curiosity and zest for life from a very young age was incredible. She was a crazy kid…loved getting dirty, always outside riding her bike & skateboard, climbing trees, and building forts. And as she grew to a beautiful teenager, that spirit never left her. Hannah was an incredible young woman…she was funny, wicked smart, a gifted athlete, a fiercely loyal friend, and the BEST big sister to her beloved little brother Robbie." - Susan Funck Grant 1 - $50,000 toward Dr. Gregory Friedman’s (University of Alabama Birmingham) research into Targeting Pediatric Medulloblastoma with Engineered Herpes Simplex Virus Grant 2 - $50,000 toward Dr. Jacqueline Brosnan-Cashman’s (Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine) research into Exploiting Telomerase Regulation in Pediatric High-Grade Glioma Grant 3 - $50,000 toward Dr. Vidya Gopalakrishnan’s (University of Texas, MD Anderson) research into Phase I Immunotherapy Clinical Trial for Recurrent Pediatric Brain Tumors |
Grant 4 - $25,000 toward Dr. Javad Nazarian’s (Children's Research Institute - CNMC) research into Robust and Rapid Translational Strategies for Treating Children with Diffuse Intrinsic Pontine Glioma
ERIN GRIFFIN, Forever 14 Erin was born in Scotland and moved to Australia with her family when she was six years old. An energetic and sporty kid, Erin enjoyed gymnastics, ice-skating, dancing, soccer, surf lifesaving and going to the beach. Even after being diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumor with a 0% survival rate, Erin never gave up on her fight, nor did she ever give up on the fight against childhood cancer being one of the strongest advocates that the childhood cancer community has ever seen. |
Grants funded in 2015 (with 2014 donations).
$164,000 EWING SARCOMA JULIANNA EDEL, Forever 12 "It's a long road, A very, very long road, But I will take the ride. God is in the driver's seat, I have no control. But I will take the ride. It may hurt, the ground may tremble, my own body might fight against me. But all is not lost. For there is good. A light, a bright one, at the end. And I will glow. I wish this never happened. But I am stronger. So, however long, I will take the ride." - Julianna Edel Grant 1 – $50,000 toward Dr. Emily Slotkin’s (Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center) research aimed at nucleic acid based therapeutics for the targeted treatment of Ewing sarcoma. Grant 2 – $50,000 toward Dr. Brian Crompton’s (Dana-Farber Cancer Institute) research aimed at targeting FAK and integrin signaling in preclinical models of Ewing sarcoma. Grant 3 – $50,000 toward Dr. David Loeb’s (Johns Hopkins University – School of Medicine) research aimed at circulating tumor DNA as a biomarker of metastasis in Ewing sarcoma Grant 4 – $14,000 toward Dr. Gregory Friedman’s (University of Alabama) research aimed at targeting pediatric brain cancer with engineered Herpes Simplex Virus. |
Grants funded in 2014 (with 2013 donations).
$110,000 ACUTE MYELOID LEUKEMIA (AML) BENJAMIN VENEZIA, Forever 13 "Benjamin will always be our handsome, brave and witty oldest son who often worried about others before himself. He brought so much laughter and joy to those who had the privilege to spend time with him. He was often described as an old soul trapped in a young boy’s body. Everyone who met Benjamin had nothing but kind words to say about him and really grew to love him instantly. To say Benjamin was intelligent would be a huge understatement because his wit and charm could never be described quite that easily. You really had to know Benjamin to appreciate his sassy nature, his kindness and love for others." - Linda Venezia Grant 1 – $50,000 toward Dr. Kevin Shannon’s (UC San Francisco) research in combining existing drugs with small molecules that target biochemical pathways that drive the growth of AML cells. Grant 2 – $50,000 toward Dr. Don Small’s (Johns Hopkins Cancer Center’s Division of Pediatric Oncology) research in developing molecularly targeted therapy for FLT3 mutant pediatric acute myeloid leukemia. Grant 3 – $10,000 toward Dr. Saro Armenian’s (City of Hope) research to lower heart failure risk amongst childhood cancer survivors. |
Infinite Love for Kids Fighting Cancer, Inc., is a registered 501(c)(3) corporation.
All donations are tax deductible under current IRS rules and regulations regarding deductions to the fullest extent of the law.
All donations are tax deductible under current IRS rules and regulations regarding deductions to the fullest extent of the law.