2010 PANDA Children's Cancer Immunology Program
Project 2010 will fund the PANDA Children’s Cancer Immunology Program that is on the cutting-edge of offering a promising option to fight cancer. Children fighting cancer face tremendous odds. Despite advances in survival rates, chemotherapy and radiation are toxic, causing short-term suffering and long-term complications.
The PANDA Children’s Cancer Immunology Program will fund
research for a new option of treatment—immunotherapy.
Immunotherapy re-programs a child’s own disease-fighting cells
to recognize his or her own individual cancer cells and prevent
them from multiplying. Scientists believe that a child’s own
immune system may become an effective way to treat cancer or to
prevent relapses.
Dr. Emmanuel Katsanis at the Steele Children’s Research Center
heads a team of physician-scientists conducting research in
pediatric immunotherapy. Dr. Katsanis and the Steele Center are
one of the few research centers in the country conducting
pediatric cancer immunology research and developing novel
immunotherapy treatments against cancer.
The PANDA Children’s Cancer Immunology Program will fund the:
• Development of promising, individualized anti-cancer vaccines
to stimulate the immune system to fight cancer
• Advancement of cancer research—transitioning successful
laboratory research to human clinical trials
• Recruitment of scientists to the Steele Center to further the
expansion of pediatric cancer immunology research
With your generous support, the PANDA Children’s Cancer Immunology Program can potentially change the way we treat pediatric cancer in the future! To gain a better understanding of Dr. Katsanis's research, please click on the link below:
2009 PANDA Children's Neurological Center
The 2009 "Children Helping Children" Fashion Show and Golf Tournament proceeds established the "PANDA Children's Neurological Center," a new comprehensive care facility to help children and families receive state-of-the-art specialized care in a single location. The facility is focused on improving the lives of thousands of families in Arizona whose children suffer from neurological disorders -encompassing traumatic brain injury, stroke, autism, near-drownings, meningitis, brain tumors, cerebral palsy and other causes.
These families face splintered care that is hard to find, hard to get, and incredibly frustrating for parents already overwhelmed by the challenges, fear and frustrations that come from raising a child with neurological insult. Staffed with the neurologists, behavioral pediatricians, therapists and specialists these children need, the PANDA Children's Neurological Center has multidisciplinary teams which work together to evaluate, diagnose and develop treatment plans for each patient.
The finest physicians and specialists who treat children with brain injury are hard to find and expensive to recruit. PANDA has made a two-year commitment to raise more than $1 million to create the physical space for the Center, to recruit a top-notch team, to provide seed money to ensure the Center grows and flourishes, and to promise that every child in Arizona who needs its services can receive them, regardless of their ability to pay. Thanks to your generous support, the PANDA Children's Neurological Center is now well on it's way to becoming a reality. To date, we have raised $800,000 toward our goal. This year we plan to complete our $1 million commitment to the pediatric neurological center.
2008 Women in Science
The 2008 “Children Helping Children” Fashion Show proceeds funded the “Women in Science” program being developed at the Steele Children’s Research Center. While more and more women enter the medical field every year, currently only 25% of physicians are women and even fewer practice medical research. The Steele Center’s “Women in Science” program supportspromising female physician-scientists as they build their clinical and research careers.
The program is currently supporting:
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The PANDA Children's Aerodigestive Disorders Center
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The PANDA Children’s Aerodigestive Disorders Center is both a clinical and research facility. It is the only one of its kind in the entire state of Arizona. The center serves children who are suffering from eosinophilic gastrointestinal disorders – disorders of the digestive tract caused by allergies to food and airborne allergens. These disorders are known as “EE” for eosinophilic esophagitis, and “EG” for eosinophilic gastroenteritis (a more debilitating form of EE). Children with EE or EG often fail to grow, suffer from nausea, vomiting, stomach pain, choking, cramping, and diarrhea. Arizona has far more cases of EE/ EG than the national average, yet there was no place in the western U.S. where children can receive dedicated care for this painful disease. In response, the PANDA Center now serves Arizona and the Southwest, employing a team approach to treat children with aerodigestive disorders.
The aerodigestive team includes Fayez K. Ghishan, MD, director of the Steele Center and a pediatric gastroenterologist; Michael Daines, MD, pediatric allergist/immunologist; Cori Daines, MD, pediatric pulmonologist; and Lindsay Brown, MS, RD, nutritionist.
“Aerodigestive disorders span the sub-specialties of gastroenterology/nutrition, pulmonary and allergy/immunology, so a team approach is the most effective way to treat these children,” Dr. Ghishan explains.
“This center has been made possible because of the generosity of the PANDAs, and we are grateful for their fundraising efforts that have made the PANDA Center a reality,” he adds.
View the History of PANDA Donations >>
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