Physician-scientist Theodore Scott Nowicki, MD, PhD, has been awarded a $400,000 Hyundai Scholar Hope grant from Hyundai Hope on Wheels, a nonprofit organization dedicated to finding a cure for pediatric cancer.
“Hyundai Hope on Wheels is really an amazing organization that we’ve been really lucky to get continued support from over the years,” said Dr. Nowicki, assistant professor in the departments of Pediatrics and Hematology/Oncology at UCLA Health, and member of the UCLA Health Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center.
Dr. Nowicki previously received Hyundai Hope on Wheels funding in 2019 and 2021 for his research on cellular immunotherapies for solid tumors. Since 2010, Hyundai Hope on Wheels has awarded more than $2.4 million in grants to researchers at UCLA Mattel Children’s Hospital.
Dr. Nowicki accepted the grant Aug. 7 during a ceremony at Mattel Children’s Hospital. Among the attendees was Johnese Spisso, president of UCLA Health, CEO of the UCLA Hospital System and associate Vice Chancellor of UCLA Health Sciences; Theodore Moore, MD, chief of pediatric oncology at Mattel Children’s Hospital; John Guastaferro, executive director of Hyundai Hope on Wheels; as well as Hyundai leadership and UCLA Health physicians, researchers and pediatric patients.
The award supports Dr. Nowicki and his colleagues' research into improving the effectiveness of therapies for solid tumors.
For patients with these tumors, differences in their biological profiles change the way they respond to treatments, making it common for their tumors to return even if they respond well upfront. His study will focus on engineering next-generation T-cell therapies with augmented tumor-fighting capabilities to produce better responses from patients. His research colleagues at UCLA Health include Cole Peters, PhD.
“Twenty-six years ago, these therapies were science fiction,” he explained in accepting the grant, “but now it’s something we use regularly, and we’re exponentially improving them to be safer, less toxic and more effective.”
Across cancer research, most funding is reserved for adult cancers, he explained.
“There’s not nearly as much support for pediatric cancers, so having an organization like Hyundai Hope on Wheels that specifically focuses on pediatric cancer research is uncommon and really important,” he said.
Funding this research is important to patients such as 15-year-old Angela Unayan, who recently completed cancer treatment at Mattel Children’s Hospital and spoke at the event. Angela shared her treatment journey and experiences.
“Some things I’d like to see in the future,” she said, “is the 14-15% of kids who die of cancer every year to shrink to zero, and for treatments to become less invasive, with less side effects.”
After her speech, she joined several pediatric patients in painting their hands and leaving handprints on Dr. Nowicki’s white coat and a white 2024 Hyundai Tucson.
This year marks Hyundai Hope on Wheels' 26th anniversary, in honor of which they pledged $26 million to fund more than 1,300 pediatric cancer research studies across 175 medical institutions nationwide. In total, Hyundai Hope on Wheels has awarded more than a quarter-of-a-billion dollars to support innovative research toward the eradication of childhood cancer.
