Investing in Breakthrough Research
Research and Discovery Is Where We Find Hope.
Hyundai supports the finest minds in pediatric cancer research…the concerned physicians and dedicated research professionals at the member institutions of the Children’s Oncology Groups of America. They look for ways of preventing cancer, improving quality of life and survival.
These doctors and research scientists are the human faces of hope to the children and families facing a pediatric cancer diagnosis. Through its collaborative research, the group improves cure rates at a much faster pace than individual institutions. Grant winners are determined by a scientific review panel of physicians.
Impact Highlights
Hyundai Hope on Wheels Funding continues to lead to new innovative, cutting-edger research and patient support.
Improved outcomes for children with leukemia and other cancersHyundai Hope on Wheels Funding continues to lead to new innovative, cutting-edger research and patient support.
- Survivorship programs
- Social work support
- New national imaging guidelines
- 2,000+ published medical research articles
- Late effects care
- Community education programs
- Increased careers in pediatric cancer research
- Improved understanding of OS cancer biology
- New research in pediatric brain tumors
- Thousands of medical publications in pediatric cancer
- Chemotherapy and Medications
Hyundai Cancer Institute
Selecting where a child will receive cancer treatment is one of the biggest decisions a caregiver can make. The Hyundai Cancer Institute at CHOC Children’s specializes in providing patients—from infants through young adults—with the latest pediatric cancer treatments by nationally recognized medical specialists. We are dedicated to not only treating cancer, but also the needs of the whole child—emotional, spiritual, and physical. Children simply shouldn’t have to give up being kids while dealing with the grown-up issue of cancer.
On May 10, 2011 Hyundai Motor America and its nonprofit organization Hyundai Hope on Wheels, announced a $10 million grant to CHOC Children’s Hospital in Orange County, California. The grant was the largest corporate grant in the hospital’s history. The grant is being used to fund groundbreaking pediatric cancer research that uses the latest advances in genomic medicine to provide more effective, individualized treatment for children with cancer. CHOC Children’s has named its cancer center of excellence the Hyundai Cancer Institute. The Hyundai Cancer Institute at CHOC Children’s is the only Children’s Oncology Group (COG) with a Phase 1 clinical trial designation in the Southwestern United States.
Researchers
Great thanks to all of our grantees who through their innovative research on pediatric cancer have helped to drive progress.
These are a few of those dedicated professionals who’ve devoted their careers to finding a cure.
Gail Tomlinson
UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS HEALTH SCIENCE CENTER AT SAN ANTONIO
Dr. Gail Tomlinson is a pediatric hematologist-oncologist and translational researcher whose work focuses on the genetic causes of childhood cancers, with a particular emphasis on health disparities affecting Hispanic children. She leads efforts to improve treatment outcomes for aggressive pediatric cancers like leukemia and hepatoblastoma through genetic registries, targeted drug studies, and mentorship of emerging scientists.
Duane Mitchell
UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA (UF)
Dr. Duane Mitchell is a leading brain tumor immunotherapy researcher at the University of Florida, focused on developing adoptive T cell therapies for children with relapsed medulloblastoma. His groundbreaking work has advanced from preclinical studies to phase two clinical trials and now aims to create personalized, data-driven immunotherapies using genomics, AI, and machine learning.
Loren D. Walensky
DANA-FARBER CANCER INSTITUTE
Dr. Loren Walensky is a pediatric oncologist at Dana-Farber and a leading researcher in cancer therapeutics, known for pioneering stapled peptides to restore p53 function in treatment-resistant childhood cancers. His development of the first dual HDM2/HDMX inhibitor has led to multiple clinical trials and advanced therapeutic options for leukemia, Ewing sarcoma, and other aggressive pediatric tumors.
Richard Aplenc
CHILDREN’S HOSPITAL OF PHILADELPHIA (CHOP)
Dr. Richard Aplenc is a pediatric oncologist at CHOP whose research focuses on improving outcomes for children with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) through genetic and proteomic analysis. His groundbreaking work has identified hundreds of potential cell surface targets for CAR T-cell therapy in pediatric AML, driving the largest proteomic study of its kind in childhood cancer.
Rani George
DANA-FARBER CANCER INSTITUTE
Dr. Rani George is a pediatric oncologist and researcher at Dana-Farber whose work focuses on targeted therapies for high-risk childhood cancers, especially neuroblastoma and osteosarcoma. Her research has led to the discovery of resistance mechanisms to ALK inhibitors and is now advancing novel approaches to reduce toxicity through gene-targeted therapies.
Craig Byersdorfer
CHILDREN’S HOSPITAL OF PITTSBURGH FOUNDATION
Dr. Craig Byersdorfer is a pediatric cancer researcher focused on improving CAR T-cell therapies for children with relapsed leukemia through metabolic modulation of immune responses. His work explores how reprogramming T-cell metabolism enhances their persistence and effectiveness, with the goal of advancing these findings into clinical trials for both blood cancers and solid tumors.
Alex Huang
RAINBOW BABIES AND CHILDREN’S HOSPITAL
Dr. Alex Huang is a pediatric oncologist and immunotherapy researcher whose work focuses on harnessing the immune system to treat osteosarcoma and soft tissue tumors in young patients. His innovative studies on sugar polymer–based therapies and cryoablation-induced immune responses are advancing toward clinical development and offer new hope for children and adolescents with difficult-to-treat cancers.
Jeffrey Toretsky
GEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY
Dr. Jeffrey Toretsky is a pediatric oncologist and researcher at Georgetown University whose work targets the molecular drivers of Ewing sarcoma, a rare and aggressive bone cancer. His team developed a first-in-class drug disrupting abnormal protein interactions in Ewing sarcoma, leading to a landmark clinical trial with extraordinary patient responses and ongoing efforts to advance next-generation therapies.
Steven Jonas
THE REGENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, LOS ANGELES
Dr. Steven Jonas is a pediatric oncologist and nanotechnology researcher at UCLA focused on advancing gene and cellular therapies through innovative, cost-effective delivery systems. His work integrates engineering, stem cell biology, and materials science to develop precision tools for immunotherapy manufacturing and liquid biopsy diagnostics in pediatric sarcomas.
The Hyundai Hope on Wheels Biorepository
The Hyundai Hope on Wheels Biorepository for the Children’s Oncology Group is located at The Research Institute of Nationwide Children’s Hospital. The biorepository maintains the largest pediatric cancer biospecimen bank in the nation. The Hyundai Hope on Wheels Biorepository contains tissue from more than 32,000 children with childhood cancer and related diseases.