Larry Matherly, Ph.D., professor of Pharmacology for the Wayne State University School of Medicine and the Barbara Ann Karmanos Cancer Institute, has been awarded a $50,000 Pediatric Oncology Research Grant by the St. Baldrick’s Foundation.

Dr. Matherly, who also serves associate director of the graduate program in cancer biology, received the grant for his research project titled “NOTCH Signaling and therapy of T-cell leukemia in children.” He hopes the research will establish the extent to which NOTCH1 mutations predict clinical outcomes in T-cell ALL and identify new approaches for treating T-cell ALL in children.

“Our project is an extension of our established translational research program in the biology of childhood leukemia at the Karmanos Cancer Institute and the Children's Hospital of Michigan, and is a paradigm for translational research in that it involves close collaboration between basic Ph.D. researchers and practicing oncologists,” Dr. Matherly said. “It is this unique working arrangement which, in itself, provides the major conduit for translating laboratory results on primary patient specimens back to patients.”

The St. Baldrick's Foundation is a non-profit organization dedicated to raising money for childhood cancer research. The foundation coordinates worldwide head-shaving events in which volunteers raise donations to support childhood cancer research.

The grant to Dr. Matherly is part of more than $12.6 million awarded by the foundation for pediatric oncology research.