NEW YORK (GenomeWeb News) – Baylor College of Medicine and Texas Children's Cancer Center will use a new $486,000 grant to conduct genomic analyses to study genetic mutations that may cause deadly brain cancers, the Texas Children's Cancer Center said today.
The grant from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation's Medical Research Program specifically will fund large-scale genomics studies led by Texas Children's Cancer Center's Donald Parsons that will identify and evaluate cancer-causing mutations in gliomas.
Parson, who also works at Baylor, has already conducted research that has resulted in the identification of a number of genes and pathways that contribute to tumor initiation and progression, the center said. His research identified mutations of the IDH1 and IDH2 genes as a "common and critical event" in glioma development, TCH said.
"The sponsored research will provide urgently-needed information about the biology of pediatric gliomas, which we hope to translate into improved care for our patients," Parsons said in a statement.