UPMC Children’s Ewing Sarcoma Researcher Awarded 2022 Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation Innovation Grant
October 18, 2022
UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh Division of Pediatric Hematology/Oncology congratulates assistant professor of Pediatrics, Kelly M. Bailey, MD, PhD, on receiving a 2022 Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation Innovation Grant.
Dr. Bailey specializes in the study of pediatric bone sarcomas, with a specific emphasis on the immune response in pediatric sarcomas, the tumor microenvironment of Ewing sarcoma, and the cross-talk between DNA damage and the anti-tumor immune response in Ewing sarcoma.
“Our laboratory has found that some types of aggressive Ewing sarcomas have an increased ability to shut down the immune system’s response to the presence of these tumors,” says Dr. Bailey. “This capability is one of the reasons that advanced Ewing sarcomas are exceedingly difficult to treat effectively.”
Dr. Bailey’s Innovation Grant supports her research proposal titled “Impact of STAG2 Loss on DNA Damage and Immunobiology in Ewing Sarcoma,” that is designed to determine why some Ewing sarcomas that metastasize specifically to lung tissues exhibit a heightened ability to suppress the immune system response of these distant tumors, while at the same time searching for optimal immunotherapy agents to combine with radiotherapy in order to better treat lung metastatic disease.
Other notable recent accomplishments by Dr. Bailey include a 2020-2022 Hyundai Hope on Wheels Young Investigator Award, and an NIH NCI K08 Award. Dr. Bailey also leads the Localized Ewing sarcoma Task Force for the Children's Oncology Group (COG) Bone Tumor Committee, a group of national Ewing sarcoma experts working to develop the next clinical trial for localized Ewing sarcoma.
