A non-profit organization focused on raising money for childhood cancer research has awarded Dr. Julia Heck, associate research professor of epidemiology in the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health, with a two-year, $200,000 grant to study pediatric cancer in Taiwan.
Heck’s research focuses on identifying environmental, occupational, behavioral and molecular factors which influence the risk of cancer, health of newborns and chronic health conditions. She has a strong interest in global cancer control; her previous scientific work has focused on cancer risk among populations in Europe, South Asia and South America.
“In general, there have been few studies on childhood cancer epidemiology emerging from Asian countries, despite that the rates of childhood cancer differ there,” said Heck, who is also a member of the UCLA Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center's Healthy and At-Risk Populations research program. “I’m hopeful that with this generous award, we will make an important contribution to childhood cancer research in this part of the world.”
This grant is being funded by Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation and will support hypothesis-driven research that focuses on the epidemiology, early detection and prevention of childhood cancer.
