FOUNTAIN VALLEY, Calif. – April 7, 2014 – Hyundai Motor America’s pediatric cancer nonprofit organization, Hyundai Hope On Wheels®, yesterday announced a $2 million research grant award to fund the Children’s Oncology Group’s (COG) Project:EveryChild. This marks Hyundai’s latest move in supporting the scientific community’s efforts to improve cure rates, diminish acute toxicity from treatments and minimize the risk for late effects for all children battling cancer. As a part of Project:EveryChild, Hyundai’s funds will help in the collection of biospecimens from children with cancer at COG institutions around the country. These specimens will then be stored at the Hyundai COG Biorepository.  The biorepository functions as a massive database of pediatric cancer specimens that provide doctors the ability to request and access thousands of cancer specimens and previous research like never before.

Cancer is still the leading cause of death from disease for children in the U.S. There are more than 100 different kinds of cancer that occur in children, and for most of these cancers, the causes are unknown. That is why the Children’s Oncology Group, the world’s largest organization devoted exclusively to childhood and adolescent cancer research, is leading Project:EveryChild‘s unprecedented research effort with its more than 200 children’s hospitals, universities, and cancer centers.

“Hyundai’s generous support to Project:EveryChild will make a significant difference in our ongoing battle against childhood cancer,” said Dr. Peter Adamson, Chairman of the Children’s Oncology Group.

“This crucial funding will ensure that every child diagnosed with cancer in the U.S. will be eligible to participate in and benefit from the advances in research from Project:EveryChild, regardless of the rarity of the type of cancer.”

Once the biospecimens (tumor tissue) from each child are stored at the Hyundai Hope On Wheels COG Biorepository, the specimens will then be able to be studied by leading laboratories around the world, accelerating discoveries that will lead to new and better treatments. Project:EveryChild will provide doctors and researchers with unprecedented, convenient access to thousands of samples and laboratory findings, allowing immense progress to be made in diagnosing and treating current children’s diagnoses.

“Over the last 16 years we have been committed to reaching a day when no child will have to face cancer, and supporting COG’s Project:EveryChild is another big step in that direction,” said Dave Zuchowski, President and CEO of Hyundai Motor America and Board Member of Hyundai Hope On Wheels. “With the ability to study every child’s type of cancer, researchers will be able to more effectively collaborate and develop new and better treatments. And that’s something that all of us at Hyundai are extremely excited and passionate about.”

Hyundai Hope On Wheels, in the fight against pediatric cancer since 1998, is committed to funding innovative research at COG member institutions and creating public awareness for pediatric cancer. Hope On Wheels will officially launch its 2014 program on April 17 in New York City, where it will announce the winners of its grants programs.

For more information about Hyundai Hope On Wheels, please visit www.HyundaiHopeOnWheels.org.

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CHILDREN’S ONCOLOGY GROUP
The Children’s Oncology Group (www.childrensoncologygroup.org) is the world’s largest organization devoted exclusively to childhood and adolescent cancer research. The COG unites more than 8,000 experts in childhood cancer at more than 200 leading children’s hospitals, universities, and cancer centers across North America, Australia, New Zealand, and Europe in the fight against childhood cancer. Today, more than 90% of 13,500 children and adolescents diagnosed with cancer each year in the United States are cared for at Children’s Oncology Group member institutions. The Children’s Oncology Group research has turned children’s cancer from a virtually incurable disease 50 years ago to one with a combined 5-year survival rate of 80% today. Our goal is to cure all children and adolescents with cancer, reduce the short and long-term complications of cancer treatments, and determine the causes to find ways to prevent childhood cancer.