The statistics are stark: one in three children who die of cancer is killed by a brain tumour.
With an average 420 children diagnosed with a brain tumour each year, and brain tumours killing more children than leukaemia, more research is desperately needed to understand the causes of this devastating disease and to find newer, kinder treatments and, ultimately, a cure.
Today, at the start of Childhood Cancer Awareness Month, and on the fifth anniversary of the loss of 13-year-old Shay Patel – the inspiration for our Member Charity Shay's Smiles – we’re proud to spotlight Dr Sindhuja Sridharan, an early career researcher whose work is helping to transform our understanding of childhood brain tumours.
Based at the Blizard Institute, Dr Sridharan has recently stepped into a co-lead role at our Brain Tumour Research Centre of Excellence at Queen Mary University of London. Her appointment is part of the renewed Centre of Excellence funding awarded to Queen Mary and reflects our commitment to growing research capacity and supporting the next generation of scientific leaders.
Dr Sridharan is focused on understanding how childhood brain tumours – specifically medulloblastoma – develop at the molecular level. Her research looks at how proteins inside cells interact with other molecules, and how these interactions change in cancer.
By comparing healthy and cancerous stem cells, her team is identifying the key proteins that may be driving tumour growth. These proteins could become targets for new treatments.
Thanks to the Centre of Excellence funding, Dr Sridharan and Junior Principal Investigator Dr Sara Badodi will co-supervise a PhD student funded by Brain Tumour Research. Alongside other members of Dr Sridharan’s lab, such as Research Assistant Dr Eloise Clarkson (pictured above right, with Dr Sridharan), they are taking a combined approach to research – studying both genes and proteins – to build a more complete picture of how this disease works.
Dr Sridharan’s work is helping to lay the foundations for future therapies that are more effective and less harmful for children. She said: “Our research will open avenues for new drug development programmes, ultimately improving quality of life for children affected by this devastating disease.”
Shay Patel was diagnosed with a glioblastoma in 2018, aged 11, after suffering a seizure. He underwent standard treatment and also began a pioneering six-month peptide vaccine treatment in Germany in early 2020. Sadly, the ban on overseas travel due to the COVID-19 pandemic meant Shay was unable to complete the programme. Just 22 months after diagnosis, Shay passed away. His mum, Niki, said: “Shay’s younger brother, Dylan, sitting beside him, begging him to keep breathing, will be a memory that will haunt me for ever.”
Find out more about what we’re doing this Childhood Cancer Awareness Month, and how you can help fund the fight to find new treatments and cures for children with brain tumours.
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