SALT LAKE CITY, Aug. 22, 2018 – Hyundai Hope On Wheels® 501c3 nonprofit organization celebrates its 20th year in the fight funding pediatric cancer research and will present Dr. Joshua Schiffman of Intermountain Primary Children’s Hospital with a $1 million Hyundai Quantum Grant. This institution is one of 4 recipients of this year’s award, which is the largest grant category given to support research on pediatric cancers with low survival rates. Mr. Kenny Lee, President and CEO of Hyundai Motor America, will officially present the Hyundai Quantum Grant to Dr. Schiffman and Primary Children’s Hospital on Wednesday, August 22nd at 10:00 a.m. in Salt Lake City, UT.
September is national Childhood Cancer Awareness Month. Hyundai Hope On Wheels will award thirty-eight (38) grant winners a combined $14.1 million for innovation research and novel therapies for pediatric cancer. This brings the organization’s donation total to $145 million since its inception. With this latest award, Primary Children’s has received more than $2.2 million in grants from HHOW.
“Throughout the country, talented doctors are working tirelessly to help kids fight cancer by conducting research or providing bedside care,” said Scott Fink, chairman, Hyundai Hope On Wheels Board of Directors. “Our goal at Hope On Wheels is to provide these doctors with the grant funds they need to perform their lifesaving work.”
Dr. Schiffman, one of this year’s Hyundai Quantum grant winners, is not only a pediatric oncologist, he is also a pediatric cancer survivor. He is on faculty at the University Of Utah School Of Medicine, Primary Children’s Hospital and Huntsman Cancer Institute. Dr. Schiffman has dedicated his life to study innovative treatments to find a cure. His team was awarded a Hyundai Quantum grant to assist his ground-breaking work in Osteosarcoma, a high risk form of pediatric cancer. Schiffman’s project is studying cancer resistance in elephants and its potential implication to treat Osteosarcoma in children. Elephants and humans share a gene called TP53. While humans have 2 copies of the gene, elephants have 40 copies of the tumor-fighting gene. Dr. Schiffman’s team believes the extra elephant TP53 genes may help to explain elephant’s natural ability to avoid cancer. Dr. Schiffman will now use the Hyundai Quantum Grant to determine its potential in future treatment of children and teenagers with Osteosarcoma.
“Our team is honored to receive this Hyundai Quantum Award. The funding it provides will help us to rapidly advance our research to help children with Osteosarcoma, a deadly bone tumor with no new treatment options for the past 40 years,” says Dr. Schiffman.
During the Hyundai Hope On Wheels grant presentation event, child cancer fighters at Primary Children’s Hospital will participate in the program’s signature Handprint Ceremony. They will dip their hands in paint and place their handprints on a white 2018 Hyundai Santa Fe. Their colorful handprints on the official Hope Vehicle represent their individual and collective journeys, hopes and dreams.
Learn more about Dr. Schiffman’s survivor story along with local Salt Lake City youth survivor, Quincy, on www.HyundaiHopeOnWheels.org. For more information about Hyundai Hope On Wheels and to view a complete list of this year’s grant winners, please visit HyundaiHopeOnWheels.org/research. Follow their 10-day countdown to Pediatric Cancer Awareness Month this September on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram at facebook.com/HyundaiHopeOnWheels, twitter.com/HopeOnWheels or instagram.com/HyundaiHopeOnWheels.