Hyundai invests $400,000 in pediatric cancer research at Augusta University

Representatives with Hyundai Hope On Wheels rolled in to the Wellstar Children’s Hospital of Georgia on Aug. 20 to present a $400,000 Scholar Hope Grant to David Munn, MD, a physician-scientist with the Georgia Cancer Center at Augusta University, to support his childhood cancer research.

“We really rely on people like Hyundai who understand the need and give hope to these kids,” said Munn, a professor of pediatric oncology for the Medical College of Georgia at Augusta University and co-director of the Pediatric Immunotherapy Program, which has developed several first-in-the-nation clinical trials for patients at Wellstar Children’s Hospital of Georgia.

This funding will supplement Munn’s effort to boost children’s immune systems so immunotherapy drugs that work well in adults can be used to fight tumors in children.

“Recurrent or treatment-resistant pediatric brain tumors represent the largest single cause of cancer deaths in children,” said Munn. “The Pediatric Immunotherapy Program at the Children’s Hospital of Georgia has a decade of innovative research and clinical trials that combine activation of the body’s own immune system to create synergy with conventional chemotherapy, for treatment of children with recurrent brain tumors.”

More specifically, Munn is exploring the novel idea that combining specialized immune activation with standard chemotherapy could reprogram a child’s immune system in such a way that the child becomes able to respond to powerful drugs called “checkpoint-blockade agents,” which have been highly successful in adult cancers but have not worked for tumors in children.

Each year, about 4,000 brain and spinal cord tumors are diagnosed in children and adolescents in the United States, according to the American Cancer Society.

“Without philanthropic funding, there’s little funding out there for these kinds of studies,” Munn said. “These children and their families appreciate that someone is working on their disease.”

Last year, Hyundai Hope on Wheels awarded a $400,000 Scholar Hope Grant to Theodore Johnson, MD, PhD, co-director of the Pediatric Immunotherapy Program and a pediatric oncologist at Wellstar Children’s Hospital. Since 2011, the Hyundai nonprofit organization has given more than $1.5 million to Augusta University and the Georgia Cancer Center to support pediatric immunotherapy studies, making Hyundai a significant philanthropic partner in advancing childhood cancer research at AU.

Hyundai Hope On Wheels is committed to finding a cure for childhood cancer and provides grants to eligible institutions nationwide that are pursuing critical research aimed at improving treatments and saving lives. HHOW is one of the largest nonprofit funders of pediatric cancer research in the country, and primary funding comes from Hyundai Motor America and its more than 830 U.S. dealers.