Kansas City, Mo. (April 29, 2009) – – Erin Guest, M.D., a physician in the Division of Pediatric Hematology/Oncology at Children’s Mercy Hospitals and Clinics and a Visiting Scientist in the Stowers Institute’s Shilatifard Lab, has been awarded a Young Investigator Grant from the Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation for Childhood Cancer. The award will provide $80,000 of support over two years, beginning in July.

     Dr. Guest, while in the Shilatifard Laboratory, will be studying the molecular basis of MLL-translocation based leukemia. Patients diagnosed with this form of leukemia have particularly poor prognoses.

     “An understanding of the molecular properties of MLL in blood cells is essential to defining its role in the onset of leukemia,” said Dr. Guest. “Once its molecular role(s) are clarified, therapies targeted to the MLL gene can be developed. These therapies are desperately needed to improve disease cure rates.”

     “Our team is excited to be working with Dr. Guest on this project,” said Ali Shilatifard, Ph.D., Investigator. “She is working toward a better understanding of the biochemical properties of the MLL protein and its chimeras, which are found in a large number of infant acute leukemias. It is an exciting project, and furthermore, having a clinician working alongside basic scientists in my lab brings a wealth of patient-related experience to our research.”

     The Young Investigator Grant is designed to fill the critical need for start up funds for early career physicians to pursue promising research ideas. These grants encourage and cultivate the researchers of the future and lead to long term commitments to research projects.

     Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation works directly with physicians and researchers to identify the specific challenges faced in bringing new treatments to children with cancer. Grants distributed from the Foundation are designed to fill critical gaps in funding identified by doctors and researchers. This careful distribution of grants has allowed doctors to bring the latest and most promising life saving treatments to seriously ill children.

About the Stowers Institute for Medical Research
     Housed in a 600,000 square-foot state-of-the-art facility on a 10-acre campus in the heart of Kansas City, Missouri, the Stowers Institute for Medical Research conducts basic research on fundamental processes of cellular life. Through its commitment to collaborative research and the use of cutting-edge technology, the Institute seeks more effective means of preventing, treating, and curing disease. Jim and Virginia Stowers endowed the Institute with gifts totaling $2 billion. The endowment resides in a large cash reserve and in substantial ownership of American Century Investments, a privately held mutual fund company that represents exceptional value for the Institute’s future.