Pediatric Brain Tumor Foundation awards $6M grant to Duke

ASHEVILLE, N.C. — The Pediatric Brain Tumor Foundation is doubling the dollar commitment to its research institute at Duke University to $12 million.

The latest $6 million grant was announced Wednesday.

Duke and the foundation are working together in an effort to improve treatments of the tumors, which kill four out of 10 children within five years of diagnosis.

"The goal of this grant is to translate our understanding of childhood brain tumors into novel, less-invasive treatment methods," said Dianne Traynor, PBTF Director of Research Funding and Advocacy.

"The Pediatric Brain Tumor Foundation Institute at Duke is the largest basic research collaborative in existence for pediatric brain tumors," she added. "It brings together established brain tumor researchers and scientists using platform technologies developed for other cancer types. Their work utilizes the disciplines of biochemistry, genetics, molecular biology, cell biology and developmental biology to better understand childhood brain tumors."

The foundation also supports institutes at the Childrens Hospital Los Angeles, the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto, Canada, and the University of California, San Francisco.