b'OUR PROGRESS 2023 GRANTED RESEARCH INSTITUTES:TOGETHER, WE2023 RESEARCH MILESTONES ARE FUNDING THE NEXT GENERATION OF BREAKTHROUGHSOur community of individuals, foundations and corporations are helping to change the treatment landscape for some of the most challengingpediatric cancers. Through our partnerships with the scientists and the cutting-edge institutions listed below, we are pleased to be driving researchthat leads to life-changing advances. $2,002,88120 RESEARCH6 NEW3 NEW RESEARCHAWARDSPRINCIPALPARTNER INVESTMENTFUNDED INVESTIGATORSINSTITUTIONSOUR RESEARCH COMMITMENT IS YIELDING IMPORTANT BREAKTHROUGHSPublication of this significant research study is just one example of the transformational impact of our work and the progress your funding makes possible. Nature Reports on New Insights into Hard-to-Treat Brain Tumors from PCRF-Funded ResearcherSince 2015, when she first published that neuronal activity actually drives the growth of cancer in multiple brain tumor types, Michelle Monje, MD, PhD has been pioneering our understanding of tumor biology. Her recent research findings, published November 1, 2023 in Nature, assert that tumors can hijack the biological machinery of brain plasticitywhich enables learningto drive their own growth.These and other discoveries of Dr. Monje and her team form the foundation of a new branch of oncology called cancer neuroscience and describe what Dr. Monje explains is a major set of interactions crucial to tumor biology that we had missed.What is clear now, particularly in pediatric tumors, is that tumors intertwine in the nervous system. Dr. Monjes team has shown that small developmental missteps underlie some of the worst childhood tumors, such as DIPG. This high-grade glioma arises in the brainstem that controls essential bodily functions and entwines with healthy cells, making it impossible to surgically remove.The Nature study points to some potential treatment options that were developed for other forms of cancer and which work surprisingly well at slowing the growth of DIPG and other gliomas.As Dr. Monje, who has spent the past 20 years studying DIPG and other brain tumors, explains,This is a connected tumor; its connecting to the entire nervous system. We must disconnect it and now we understand enough about this disease to have lots of really rational ways to do that.The Pediatric Cancer Research Foundation is proud to support this and other of Dr. Monjes work through the Will Irwin Memorial Fund.7'