A Tucson nursing professor has received a prestigious research grant from a leading pediatric philanthropy.
Alex's Lemonade Stand Foundation awarded $100,000 over two years to Ki Moore of the University of Arizona's College of Nursing. The money is dedicated to funding research into the long-term effects of chemotherapy treatment on the brain.
While methotrexate treatment has significantly improved acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) survival rates in children, it is often also associated with long-term cognitive and academic problems.
Moore's research could potentially be used to develop therapeutic strategies to protect the brain from injury, to promote synaptic plasticity and to improve cognitive outcomes among the increasing number of children who are long-term survivors of ALL.
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The research is paticularly important because ALL is the most common type of leukemia in children under the age of 15.
A total of $250,000 in grant money was awarded by Alex's Lemonade Stand, a non-profit organization named for Alexandra Scott, a Connecticut native who died of pediatric cancer (neuroblastoma) at the age of eight in 2004.
Before she died, Alex operated a lemonade stand to raise money for pediatric cancer research and education. At the time of her death she was living in Wynnewood, Penn. to be closer to The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia.
The foundation named for Alex funds both medical and nursing research that aims to not only find better treatments and cures for all childhood cancer, but to improve the quality of care and life for children and their families fighting the disease.
Moore's was one of four grants the foundation recently gave out. Hers was also one of the two largest sums of money the foundation awarded. Moore is a professor of nursing at the UA as well as director of nursing practice at the college.
