Pediatric Cancer Research at UCSF Gets $1.75M from Lemonade Stand

Since its first lemonade stand was set up in 2000 by a little girl with cancer, the Alex's Lemonade Stand Foundation (ALSF) has raised over $60M to support pediatric cancer research at institutions across the United States. That's a lot of lemonade. While lemonade stands are still a staple of the organization's activities, celebrity support and large fund raising events like the recent "Lemon Ball" (which raised a record $825K) allow ALSF to leverage the kind of funds that really make a difference. In a recent round of funding awards, the University of California San Francisco's Benioff Children's Hospital was named a Center of Excellence by the foundation and given $1.75M to speed translational research programs and training over the next five years. Chief investigator on the grant is Dr. Katherine Matthay, chief of pediatric oncology at Benioff. She says of the ALSF award in a recent news release:

“One of our strengths at UCSF is our emphasis on translational research. The ability to train new investigators in developmental therapeutics will capitalize on the very strong laboratory translational research at UCSF and bring new agents targeting pediatric cancer into the clinic.”

[Photo of the original Alex's lemonade stand courtesy of ALSF]

Part of the UCSF Parnassus campus complex, Benioff Children's Hospital is a teaching hospital within the UCSF School of Medicine and one of the top children's cancer research centers nationwide. Currently housed in a mid-century building, the Children's Hospital is slated to occupy its new facility on the Mission Bay campus as soon as two years from now (February 2015). Meanwhile, Benioff is located at the heart of the Parnassus Street research and clinical complex and the med school's Department of Pediatrics and Department of Hematology/Oncology.

[The current Children's Hospital on Parnassus]

[Future Mission Bay home of Benioff Children's Hospital]

In the current climate of fiscal uncertainty at the federal level, private donations in support of the research mission of public institutions like UCSF are especially important. In addition to the ALSF award, UCSF was recently at the center of another philanthropic event. The $3M Life Sciences Breakthrough Prizes (see our blog from a few days ago) were announced at an event held at UCSF and hosted by UCSF Chancellor Susan Desmond-Hellmann last week. Of the 11 inaugural laureates of the mega-prize sponsored by a group of "tech Titans," 4 of those winners were either current or former UCSF researchers. One winner was also a Nobel Prize winner, UCSF/Gladstone stem cell pioneer Shinya Yamanaka, MD. The $3M prize may not yet be as prestigious as the Nobel, but it includes twice the prize money for future research.

Biotechnology Calendar Inc. holds its popular and well-attended San Francisco Biotechnology Vendor Showcase exhibition twice-annually: once a year at the Parnassus Campus and once at the newer Mission Bay Campus. The first showcase event of 2013 was held at Mission Bay on February 6. The second event will be held on the Parnassus Campus June 6, 2013. For information on exhibiting and funding, click the button below or call one of our sales reps:

BCI is a full service event marketing and planning company producing on-campus, life science research tradeshows nationwide for the past 20 years. We plan and promote each event to bring the best products and services to the best research campuses across the country. Visit our website for information about upcoming shows in your area and to register to exhibit or attend.