Our vision is simple: Cancer-free lives for all kids. 

Our mission is to provide direct funding for pediatric cancer research.

Our Mission

The Jeffrey Pride Foundation for Pediatric Cancer Research is an all-volunteer 501(c)3 founded in 2000 in memory of Jeffrey Pride, and in response to learning that pediatric cancer research is severely underfunded, receiving less than 4% of the National Cancer Institute’s(NCI) funding for cancer research.

The need for private funding like ours is more urgent than ever. Drug companies rarely fund pediatric cancer research in a significant way and government grants via NCI have been cut 30% over the last 10 years. At a point in time where there are so many promising ideas for research, funding is more limited than ever and life-saving research goes undone.

Important Facts to Remember About Pediatric Cancers:

*Cancer is the #1 disease killer of children in the United States, resulting in the death of more children than most other childhood diseases in combined.

*14,000 new cases of pediatric cancers are diagnosed each year (nearly 2 classrooms of children every day)

*1 in every 300 children will receive a cancer diagnosis by the age of 20

Over the past 24 years we've supported drug research, clinical trials and most recently genomic testing of children's cancer cells. This provides children with the most promising, targeted and specific treatments for their cancers. These new developments quite possibly could have changed Jeff's treatment and he and other children like him might have been healthy adults today.

Our Story

Our foundation is named after a brave little boy named Jeffrey Pride.  Jeff's short life was full of many loves. He loved his parents and sisters, his friends, his dog, school, hockey, NASCAR, video games, drawing, and building models. Jeff was a hard worker, and he fought hard in his two-year battle with leukemia.

Still, three days after his seventh birthday, Jeff died.

In the course of his battle, his parents came to realize how under funded cancer research was for children, even by the large foundations and societies that have become household names.   Surrounded by caring friends, the foundation was born with the aim of cancer-free lives for children becoming a reality.  To date,  JPF has donated close to 5 million dollars to the fight against Pediatric Cancer. 

Video from 2020 Virtual Gala

What We've Achieved

  • We have helped bring about a dozen new drugs to clinical trials. One of those drugs, Gleevec, has proven to be so successful that it is now being used as a frontline chemotherapy in high risk kids.

  • We helped support a large scale genomic study, the only one of it’s kind being done in the world at the time, looking at cancer from the molecular level, studying the DNA of cancer cell.

  • Utilizing the valuable information gained from that study we continued genetic testing looking at markers that help determine each child’s genetic risk level, allowing very specific targeted treatments to be developed that attack only the cancer cells and leave the rest of the body unharmed.

  • In more recent funding, we continued down the same path, supporting more genetic testing that looks at how much cancer remains after the first stage of chemotherapy, the induction phase. Once determined, very specific, targeted therapies could be developed.

WHAT WE are currently supporting

JEFFREY PRIDE FOUNDATION

2025-2026 Grants to Children’s Oncology Group Research

The Children’s Oncology Group is responding to reductions in Federal Funding (from National Cancer Institute – NCI).  Individual philanthropic organizations are becoming ever more important.

JEFFREY PRIDE FOUNDATION INTEGRATED CORRELATIVE BIOLOGY AWARDS:

These studies received 2025 grants at the end of the year in the following areas:

--- Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL) - - David Teachey, MD , COG Committee Chair

--Racel Rau, DB, Seattle Children’s Hospital – “Central Spinal fluid (CSF) cell-free DNA sequencing to track therapy response in the Central Nervous System (CNS) in pediatric B-ALL .”  Treatment of the most common juvenile blood cancer with Blinatumomab has resulted in 95% cure rates.  This study addresses the small % of leukemia recurrences in the spinal fluid.  Measurement of DNA can guide doctors towards appropriate levels of chemotherapy for relapsed patients.

--- Hodgkins Lymphoma, - -  Sharon Castellino, MD, MSc,  COG Committee Chair

--Austin Brown, Phd, Baylor College of Medicine – “Exploring the role of immune dysregulation on Hodgkins lymphoma susceptibility”  This study will use genomic sequencing data to determine likelihood of ALL occurrences as a result of a genetic variant that regulates the immune system.  This will lead to improved treatment choices, counseling and screening.

--- Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML)- - Todd Cooper, DO, COG Committee Chair

--Katherine Tarlock, MD, Seattle Childrens Hospital – “Evaluation of Molecular MRD in Pediatric KMTwA and NUP-rearranged AML”  Treatment strategies for children with AML look at molecular mutations in cancer cells.  This study will look at 2 kinds of testing to determine effectiveness of each in predicting outcomes.  Results of this testing will help design more targeted personalized therapies for children with AML

---Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma, - Carl Allen, MD, Phd, COG Committee Chair

--Lisa Roth, MD, New York University Langone - - “Immune Biomarkers of Primary Mediastinal B-Cell Lymphoma.” Primary Mediastinal  B-cell lymphoma (PMBCL) is a type of Non-Hodgkins lymphoma , often affecting teenagers and young adults.  PMBCL typically forms when specialized lymphocytes in the white blood cells, known as B cells, undergo DNA changes and turn into cancer cells. This study will review the effectiveness of the drug Nivolumab by reviewing immune markers.  This will guide personalization of immunotherapy and bring better outcomes.

Additional Project funded in 2025:

Project Title :  Support for trial 1821

The Jeffrey Pride Foundation has granted funding related to transporting blood, bone marrow and other biospecimens to Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.  This clinical trial is reviewing certain proteins in B-ALL patients.  Comparison of proteins and cell types will guide to optimal treatment combinations (primarily of Blinatumomab, Nivolumab & chemotherapy)

-----2024 Grant studies Complete:

--- Hodgkins Lymphoma,

--Lisa Roth, MD, New York University Langone – “Defining Biomarker of Response to Immunotherapy in Pediatric Hodgkin Lymphoma.” This cancer of the lymph nodes is aggressive and traditional chemotherapy puts many survivors at risk for heart disease and other cancers.  Tumor imaging and genetic sequencing studies have increased understanding of availability/effectiveness of new combination therapies.

2024 Grant studies still Ongoing:

---Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL)

--Terzah Horton, MD, Baylor College of Medicine – “Using proteomics in B cell-ALL to optimize therapy selection and discover therapy targets”  This study will identify drugs that will treat abnormal proteins that do not respond to traditional chemotherapy regimens.

---Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma, - Carl Allen, MD, Phd, COG Committee Chair

--Lisa Roth, MD, New York University Langone – “Genomic & Immunologic Predictors of Response in Primary Mediastinal B-cell Lymphoma.”  Primary Mediastinal B-cell Lymphoma is rare and aggressive.  To increase understanding of best patient results, this study will evaluate tumor and blood from patients.  This will determine genetic markers that will predict proactively if current therapies are appropriate or necessitate combinations of therapies.

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PROJECTS ONGOING IN 2026:

Project Title :  Project Every Child

This COG initiative aims to make biospecimens (blood and tissue) available to scientists around the world so they can find better cures for cancer.  Bio-Specimens are collected from patients in United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Saudi Arabia.  Scientists worldwide can access the Project:EveryChild biobank of more than 515,000 biospecimens collected from nearly 70,000 patients, (representing nearly 300 unique cancer diagnoses).  By studying this data, efforts can be made for better, less toxic, and more patient-specific cures for children with cancer.