Assorted News from the Last Week: 

Whole Genome Sequencing (WGS) boosts outcomes for nearly 30% of children with cancer.

CAC2 Member Chelsi Weber notes that the systems in place are blocking children from getting effective treatment.

Understanding accelerated aging in childhood cancer survivors.

Obesity at diagnosis tied to decreased survival in children with cancer.

South Africa fights childhood cancer: Every ribbon tells a story.

Childhood cancer survivors’ risks for early death, chronic conditions extend past age 50.

Liquid biopsies offer hope for children with neuroblastoma.

Upcoming Webinars, Online Opportunities, and Meetings:

CAC2 will host a free public webinar on Thursday, September 11 at noon ET, “Improving the Pediatric Cancer Care Experience with Palliative Support.” Pediatric psychologist, Chrissy Salley, Ph.D., and parents Amy Graver and Aisling Melton will focus on how palliative care can help your child and family and also demystify common misconceptions about this medical specialty. Click here for more information and to register.

Congressman Michael McCaul and the Childhood Cancer Caucus Co-Chairs Congressman Mike Kelly, Congresswoman Kathy Castor, and Congressman Ami Bera invite you to the 16th Annual Congressional Childhood Cancer Caucus Summit on Sept. 18th on Capitol Hill. Click here for more information and to register. RSVP required.

The Golden Toast is an annual event held in Washington, D.C., hosted by The Carson Leslie Foundation to celebrate the childhood cancer community and their legislative achievements.  This year’s event will be on Thursday September 18.  Click here for more information and to register.

Austin Hatcher Foundation will hold its18th annual Celebration of Life and Hope on September 20 at 7:00 ET. Click here for more information and to register.

Rocky Mountain Vintage Racing is pleased to announce Race Against Kids’ Cancer (RAKC), which will be at High Plains Raceway where these wonderful cars of all years and vintages are invited to gather to celebrate this class and September 27-28.  Click here for more information and to register.

NCI Office of Data Sharing will host a Data Jamboree that focuses on finding and accessing datasets, building specific pediatric cancer cohorts, and aggregating or linking datasets from various data systems still present tremendous challenges for the wider research and care community, on September 29 and 30, 2025.  Click here for more information and to register.

The National Cancer Institute’s CCDI Symposium is happening this October in person in Bethesda, MD or online! Click here to register.

The Alternatives Research & Development Foundation (ARDF) is excited to announce a new funding opportunity through our Alternatives in Research (AiR) Challenge program: Focus on Childhood Cancer. The Focus on Childhood Cancer program will fund promising proposals that use innovative and human-relevant research methods to address challenging and important research questions related to childhood cancers.

Key Information:

• Maximum award per project is $210,000 (up to five awards total)
• LOI Deadline: September 15, 2025
• Projects must specifically focus on childhood cancer and address the program’s dual aims: improving knowledge or treatment of childhood cancer, and demonstrating the value of non-animal approaches in biomedical research
• Eligible applicants must be affiliated with a US-based non-profit, tax-exempt, non-governmental educational or research institution.

The AiR Challenge: Focus on Childhood Cancer program is now accepting LOIs through ARDF’s application portal on Proposal Central. To learn more, visit: https://www.ardf-online.org/air-challenge.html.