Local doctor awarded pediatric brain tumor research grant

Dr. Gregory Friedman recently won a $40,000 grant to support his research to fight brain cancer in children.

Friedman, an assistant professor of pediatrics and associate scientist in the Neuro-Oncology program at the UAB Comprehensive Cancer Center and Alabama Center for Childhood Cancer and Blood Disorders at Children’s of Alabama, was awarded the grant by the Foundation for Childhood Cancer Research (Rally) and Vs. Cancer Foundation.

Friedman’s work has been supported by a previous Rally Foundation grant, which has helped him make progress in the fight against medulloblastoma, the most common malignant pediatric brain tumor and a leading cause of cancer-related death.

“While survival rates have improved, a significant number of patients have poor outcomes despite surgery, chemotherapy and radiation therapy, which are all damaging to the developing brain,“ he said. “With this grant we are focusing on the development and clinical application of genetically altered viruses, which kill cancer cells while sparing normal brain cells.”

Friedman said this therapy has proven safe in several adult clinical trials at UAB and hopes to bring this new therapy to clinical use in children with brain tumors.

Friedman provides care to pediatric cancer patients at The Alabama Center for Childhood Cancer and Blood Disorders, a partnership between UAB, Children’s of Alabama and the UAB Comprehensive Cancer Center. 

-Submitted by Adam Kelley