The prize honors compelling presentations made by UCLA faculty members engaged in pediatric research. The group will present him with a gift of $130,000 at a luncheon in July.
Federman's award-winning lecture, "Fighting Cancer in Children Using Nanotechnology," described the development of using targeted nanoparticles to treat pediatric sarcomas-aggressive and often lethal cancers of bone and soft tissue-in which the survival rate for patients is less than 20 percent despite aggressive chemotherapy, surgery, and radiation treatments.
Nanoparticles are synthetic structures with dimensions ranging from 1 to 100 nanometers (a nanometer is one-billionth of a meter, about the size of a water molecule), whose unique properties depend on their physical size and component chemistry. In general, nanoparticles are non-toxic and biodegradable, and many contain a hollow core into which a wide range of cancer-fighting medicine can be packaged.
Over the past several years, Federman has built an impressive clinical and research program collaborating with the UCLA adult sarcoma program and the UCLA Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center. His translational research developing nanoparticles to specifically target pediatric cancers represents a novel approach that could lead to a breakthrough in the way aggressive childhood cancers are treated.
Organized in 2006, Today's and Tomorrow's Children Fund is a fundraising group that supports pediatric research at UCLA Mattel Children's Hospital. The group currently includes 30 volunteer members from the community. UCLA faculty members are selected to present their research projects to the group members, who then select the winning presentation. Ultimately, the group hopes to expand its membership and to provide an annual award of $1 million to one or more pediatric researchers.
For more information on the Today's and Tomorrow's Children Fund, please contact Erica Edwards, associate director of development at UCLA Mattel Children's Hospital, at [email protected] or (310) 267-1836.
UCLA Mattel Children's Hospital is a vital part of Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center, which is consistently ranked "Best in the West" in U.S.News & World Report's annual survey of America's best hospitals. The hospital offers a full spectrum of primary and specialized medical care for infants, children and adolescents. The mission of UCLA Mattel Children's Hospital is to provide state-of-the-art treatment for children in a compassionate atmosphere, as well as to improve the understanding and treatment of pediatric diseases. For more information, please visit www.mattel.ucla.edu.
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