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The Aflac Cancer & Blood Disorders Center of Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta Receives $3.09M Gift

ATLANTA (August 2, 2019) ­-The Aflac Cancer and Blood Disorders Center of Children's Healthcare of Atlanta has announced a new $3.09 million gift commitment from CURE Childhood Cancer. In the past 11 years, the organization has donated more than $22 million in funding to the Aflac Cancer Center.

The majority of CURE’s latest gift is earmarked for the Precision Medicine Program, which was developed, in part, thanks to a $4.5 million gift from the organization in 2017. The gift also will fund research projects, fellowships and provide emergency funds to families.

“We are very excited to grow our long-standing relationship with the Aflac Cancer Center with another round of funding for innovative research and cutting-edge work,” says Kristin Connor, CURE Childhood Cancer’s Executive Director. “CURE’s mission is to move the needle closer to therapies with fewer side effects for children with cancer and, eventually, cures. The launch of the Precision Medicine Program was a very first important step in advancing our mission and we are thrilled to continue funding the endeavor to make a difference in the lives of patients and families.”

Through the systematic implementation of integrated, comprehensive tumor profiling and the development of novel strategies to identify individual tumors’ vulnerabilities, the Precision Medicine Program provides state-of-the-art care for children with the highest risk tumors and aims to develop new, non-toxic treatments for pediatric cancer.

“We are so grateful to CURE for this generous gift and their continued support of our patients and researchers as we work to find new ways to fight and defeat childhood cancer,” says Douglas K. Graham, M.D., Ph.D., director of the Aflac Cancer and Blood Disorders Center and professor of pediatrics at Emory University School of Medicine. “Our goal is to share the treatments and protocols developed through our Precision Medicine Program with centers around the country.”

Since July 2018, more than 40 relapsed or high-risk patients have been enrolled in the Precision Medicine Program, laying the groundwork for more patients to participate in and benefit from this growing initiative.

 

Link to Children's Healthcare of Atlanta article