Cincinnati Children’s Awarded $75,000 Hyundai Grant for Pediatric Cancer Research

Hyundai Hope On Wheels® and Cincinnati-area Hyundai dealers awarded Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center a $75,000 Hyundai Scholar Grant to support the pediatric cancer research of Dr. Maureen O’Brien, who is currently working to identify new therapies that may help patients with relapsed acute myeloid leukemia.

Cincinnati Children’s is one of 43 recipients of Hope On Wheels’ 2012 Hyundai Scholar Grant, which supports principal investigators, known as Hyundai Scholars, who are pursuing research to improve the lives of children battling pediatric cancer.

Dr. O’Brien accepted the grant during the Hope On Wheels handprint ceremony held at the medical center on Wednesday.

“This grant from Hyundai Hope on Wheels will help fund our laboratory studies of a novel drug that targets the dividing cancer cell,” says Dr. O’Brien, associate director of the leukemia/lymphoma program at Cincinnati Children’s. “Data from this research will be critical to the development of a new clinical trial of this drug in combination with chemotherapy for children with relapsed acute myeloid leukemia.”

Cincinnati-area children battling cancer placed their handprints in colorful paint on a new Hyundai Tucson, the official vehicle of the program, to commemorate their battles with cancer. Every handprint ceremony celebrates the courageous lives of the children faced with cancer and brings the Hope On Wheels’ community of supporters together.

Over the course of 2012, Hope On Wheels will donate $12 million to children’s hospitals nationwide for pediatric cancer research through its Hyundai Scholar Grant and Hyundai Hope Grant programs. By year-end 2012, Hope On Wheels plans to surpass $58 million in total donations to pediatric cancer research since its inception in 1998.