Why is Pediatric Cancer Research so Important?
The treatment of pediatric cancer has not changed in 25 years. Every child is given the same treatment, following a protocols that are simply outdated. Many times the Doctor and Children are not aware the treatment are not effective until after they have endured many months horrible Chemotherapy treatments. In some cases the news that the treatment was not effective comes too late.
Why is this research different?
Dr. Charles Keller with Doernbecher Children’s Hospital Pediatric Cancer Biology(PCB) program is very passionate about changing they way we are fighting and treating pediatric cancer. Dr. Keller is thinking outside the box. His goal is to create individual, customized, treatment protocols for every child undergoing cancer treatment. His approach is simple but eloquent in its simplicity. Dr. Keller has begun research that cultures every child’s cancer in the lab before treatment begins. He then tests the different Chemotherapies to see which combination is most the effective in killing the tumor. From there he will design a customized treatment plan based on what he knows will be the most effective for each individual patient.
Who is Dr. Keller?
Dr. Keller is a
board-certified pediatric oncologist and investigator specializing
in the development of more effective, less toxic therapies for the
childhood cancers. His special interest is advanced disease that has
spread beyond the initial location of the cancer. Dr. Keller is
investigating whether the genes thought to be responsible for the
initial tumors are also important when the disease progresses,
thereby identifying targets for new medical therapies. To
address these disease, Dr. Keller's laboratory encompasses a
multidisciplinary team with expertise in genetically-engineered
mouse models, biochemistry and biomedical engineering. Dr.
Keller is also the inventor for multiple issued or pending patents
and a co-founder of Numira Biosciences, www.numirabio.com.
Dr Keller joined the Pape' Family Pediatric Research Institute,
Department of Pediatrics, as Leader of the Pediatric Cancer Biology
Program in June of 2010 as an Associate Professor (provisional) and
the Tarshis Professor of Pediatric Hematology-Oncology. Dr.
Keller also directs the Pediatric Preclinical Testing Initiative in
the Pape' Family Pediatric Research Institute. Dr. Keller is
also a Member of the Knight Cancer Institute and the Oregon Stem
Cell Center. Dr. Keller was previously a Founding Principal
Investigator of the Greehey Children's Cancer Research Institute at
the University of Texas Health Science Center in San Antonio.
For his education, Dr. Keller attended Tulane University where he
received a degree in Biomedical Engineering prior to attending
Baylor College of Medicine where he received his M.D. degree. After
completing his internship and residency in Pediatrics at Texas
Children's Hospital, Dr. Keller trained in Pediatric
Hematology-Oncology at the University of Utah and as a K08-funded
postdoctoral fellow in the laboratory of 2007 Nobel laureate, Mario
R. Capecchi.
Message from the Board
The board of the Trey Foote Foundation is very excited about the research Dr. Keller is doing and believe he will make a difference in the way Children are treated for cancer. Dr. Keller is a gifted researcher and needs our support. 100% of your contributions to the Trey Foote Foundation will go towards funding Dr. Keller's research and your donation is 100% tax deductable.
Thank you for your support for this important project.
Sincerely,
Board of the Trey Foote Foundation
