A major tribute to Rachel’s memory is the Rachel Molly Markoff Chair of Research, created and funded in her name through the generous support of friends, family, companies and foundations.
Over the years the Foundation has supported the Brain Tumor Society in its grants to researchers dedicated to the science that provides hope for the eventual cure. These researchers are:
James K. Chen, Ph.D. Assistant Professor of Molecular Pharmacology,
Stanford University. Dr. Chen is studying the development of next-generation chemotherapies, specifically novel Hedgehog pathway
antagonists, as potential medulloblastoma therapeutics. Conventional
treatments of medulloblastomas in children are associated with high rates of recurrence, metastasis, and permanent disability. Selective pathway antagonists resulting from these studies will further future investigations of the Hedgehog pathway and the development of new therapies for this deadly cancer.
Adrienne C. Scheck, Ph.D. of Barrow Neurological Institute, Phoenix. Dr. Scheck’s lab recently found that tumors that recur following
radiation and chemotherapy have cells with a specific genetic abnormality that is not found in the tumor cells prior to treatment. They hope to identify the role of this particular translocation in therapy resistance.
Michael C. Jensen, M.D., City of Hope National Medical Center. Dr. Jensen’s lab researched the genetic engineering of T-cells that might be deployed to target high grade glioma brain tumors.
Charles Eberhart, M.D. Ph.D., of Johns Hopkins University. Dr. Eberhart‘s laboratory was focused on understanding the molecular basis of medulloblastomas.
Myrna R. Rosenfeld, M.D., Ph.D., of Sloan Kettering Institute for Cancer Research in New York. Dr. Rosenfeld’s research was on “Novel
Approaches to Angiogenesis Inhibition in Experimental Glioma.”
Allen E. Bale, M.D., of Yale University School of Medicine. Dr. Bale’s research was on “The Hedgehog Pathway in Medullablastoma.”
Daniel W. Fults, M.D., of University of Utah School of Medicine. His project was “Somatic Cell Gene Transfer to Model Medulloblastoma in Mice.”
