How will we cure cancer?

By funding medical research.

Tri Delta is here to help.

 Significant advancements in pediatric cancer treatments are because of Tri Delta’s fundraising partnership with Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, but our efforts won’t stop until a cure is found.

 Delta Delta Delta for Children’s Hospital Los Angeles is looking to YOU to stand in the fight against childhood cancer. As a partner, your donation today will help the CHLA Cancer and Blood Disease Institute fund research fellowships to further work toward finding a cure for pediatric cancer.

 Who You are Helping | When Katie Hawley was nine years old, she was diagnosed with Stage 3 high-risk ganglioneuroblastoma. Neuroblastoma is a cancer that develops from immature nerve cells – Ganglioneuroblastoma is a specific subtype of neuroblastoma, involving both malignant and benign cells. For treatment, Katie came to CHLA, home to the New Approaches to Neuroblastoma Therapy (NANT) multi-institute consortium. Since Katie’s diagnosis in 2009, she has gone through multiple surgeries, chemotherapy sessions, radiation treatments, and blood transfusions. Neuroblastoma is notoriously difficult to effectively treat, and Katie has relapsed six times – most recently in 2020.

 Katie became a member of Delta Delta Delta at the Baylor University/Beta Tau chapter in 2018.

While back in school at Baylor University, Katie began experiencing unexplained and severe shoulder/neck pain. Her previous scans from CHLA in December came back clear, but an MRI from a doctor in Texas found a tumor on her spinal cord. Katie was brought to Cooks Children's Hospital for biopsies and MIBG scans, and the team determined the tumor to be Schwannoma - a rare nervous system tumor, but non cancerous. Unfortunately, the team in Texas declined to operate on this tumor because it was intertwined around the nerves of her spine. Katie and her family were worried the tumor was inoperable, and concerned about pain management in the future.

 Luckily, the team at CHLA accepted the challenge. Katie’s oncology team was unable to operate on the tumor, but referred the case to the Jackie and Gene Autry Orthopedic Center. After meeting with a collaborative orthopedic and neurosurgeon team at CHLA this February, Katie scheduled surgery to remove the tumor. It turned out the tumor was not intertwined with the spinal cord but instead sitting on her C5/C6, the cause of her neck and shoulder pain. The surgery was successful with no side effects – she’s pain free! Thanks to the care at CHLA, Katie graduated in May 2022 with the rest of her Tri Delta sisters at Baylor.

 Our Why | Tri Delta for CHLA is on a mission to fund the cancer treatments of tomorrow. This means fundraising annually to support fellowships specifically dedicated to advancing pediatric cancer research. There are many other patients like Katie at CHLA, in need of improved and efficient treatment options. CHLA relies on philanthropic funding to remain on the cutting edge of pediatric oncology research.

 Physician scientists advance treatments in the medical field because of research.

 There are over a dozen types of childhood cancers, and countless subtypes – making it challenging for researchers to find treatments for every kind. Some cancers are found in infants or in-utero (such as neuroblastoma) while others are more likely to occur in teenagers. Even when children are diagnosed with cancers that also impact adults (such as lymphoma), they must be treated differently. Children are not just smaller adults!

 We take pride in our long-standing support of CHLA. Tri Delta’s fundraising efforts fund research fellowships at CHLA, supporting projects that study neuroblastoma, breast cancer, and atypical pineal cysts. Many of these projects focus on immunochemotherapy regimens – innovative treatments that utilize the body’s immune system to combat cancer cells while reducing the dosage of chemotherapy drugs. To learn more about the recent Summer Oncology Research Fellowship participants and their projects, click here – https://www.tridelta4chla.org/giving-weekend.

 What You Can Do | We need your support to help Tri Delta for CHLA meet its annual fundraising goal of $10,000. As a partner, your donations help CHLA’s Cancer and Blood Disease Institute fund fellowships to further research toward finding a cure for pediatric cancer.

 About the Summer Oncology Research Fellowship | The Summer Oncology Research Fellowship (SORF) is an immersive program that matches research fellows with on-going research projects in pediatric or adolescent oncology. Fields range from clinical, translational, or laboratory research and/or new frontiers in bioinformatics, biomedical engineering, precision medicine, population-based research, survivorship and other oncology-based fields. Fellows benefit from working under experienced faculty members at CHLA, and many go on to specialize in fields related to pediatric oncology. Research projects benefit from having the best and the brightest medical students dedicate their time and efforts to furthering research at CHLA. This program is crucial to educating and training the next generation of physician scientists, who will be crucial to finding a cure for pediatric cancer. For more information visit, www.chla.org/fellowship/summer-oncology-research-fellowship.

 About Children’s Hospital Los Angeles | Children’s Hospital Los Angeles is dedicated to creating hope and building healthier futures for children. Founded in 1901, CHLA is ranked the top children’s hospital in the western United States, first in California, and eighth in the nation for clinical excellence with its selection to the prestigious U.S. News & World Report Honor Roll of children’s hospitals. The hospital relies on the generosity of the community to support its groundbreaking pediatric research and the complex care it provides for critically ill and injured children. For more information, visit www.chla.org.

 About Delta Delta Delta for Children’s Hospital Research | In 1947, Los Angeles Tri Delta’s saw a need at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles (CHLA) and donated $1,500 to the general hospital fund. In 1951, Tri Delta accepted a challenge to raise $6,000 annually to support the hospital's hematology lab - the first lab dedicated to advancing medical research at Children’s Hospital LA. Because of Tri Delta's early donations, the lab grew into what is known today as the Center for Cancer and Blood Diseases Institute – the largest oncology, hematology and blood marrow transplant program in the Western United States. Our donations have funded research fellowships through the SORF program, and helped researchers automate radiation technology, understand the relationship between brain iron deposition and radiation therapy, and identify cell markers in Wilms tumors. For more information, visit www.tridelta4chla.org.

 Delta Delta Delta for Children’s Hospital Research is a 501(c)(3) strictly operated on a volunteer basis (Federal Tax ID 23-7294093). It is our goal to ensure our overhead costs remain low to ensure maximum donation to Children's Hospital Los Angeles. A small portion of your donation is required to pay fees associated with Donately.com, Stripe.com, Paypal.com and other nominal fundraising costs. For tax purposes, 90% of your donation is considered deductible.