All Children's Hospital Foundation

18 All Children's Hospital Foundation | www.givetoallkids.org Research THE THREE-YEAR, $717,000 award from the NIH/National Cancer Institute will be used to develop innovative techniques for using saliva samples instead of blood samples to alert physicians to potentially toxic levels of some chemotherapy drugs. The idea is that kids might prefer to spit than face a needle for blood drawing. "The biorepository and this project give us a chance to advance the emerging field of biorepository science by exploring new ways to store specimens for future research use," explains Margaret Penno, Ph.D. She is the interim director of the Johns Hopkins Medicine Pediatric Biorepository at All Children's Hospital and was previously a long-time director of the Cell Center and Biorepository of the Johns Hopkins Genetic Resources Core Facility in Baltimore, Maryland. The biorepository is a state-of-the-art robotic specimen storage unit that can access frozen samples quickly and efficiently for testing. It is the only pediatric biorepository in Florida and one of only a handful of such facilities in the United States. In fact, it recently achieved a significant milestone – earning prestigious accreditation in April from the College of American Pathologists. The accreditation speaks to our vision for quality and ensures standardized best practices. The biorepository plays a key role in many new research initiatives at All Children's. "Now is an exciting time to be a researcher at All Children's," Penno adds. "This is really just the beginning of what we will accomplish." Penno is the principal investigator of the new NIH-funded study. Co-investigators include pediatric oncologist Gregory Hale, M.D., at ACH; William Clarke, Ph.D., and Mark Marzinke, Ph.D., at Johns Hopkins University; and Douglas Granger, Ph.D., of Arizona State University. Together they will determine whether saliva samples are a suitable alternative (versus the current "gold standard" of blood plasma) to monitoring potential toxicity of doxorubicin, a chemotherapy drug, and evaluate its pharmacogenomics. A second and broader goal is to advance biorepository science by seeking optimal ways to stabilize and store samples for current and future research uses. "These types of studies can help us determine which chemotherapy drugs may be the best match to a tumor's profile and discern the lowest level of the drug that will still be effective in fighting the cancer," explains Hale, who treats childhood cancer patients at the Johns Hopkins All Children's Cancer & Blood Disorders Institute. For more news about how All Children's is helping kids, visit www.givetoallkids.org. Pediatric Cancer Research As another significant step in our growing research program, All Children's Hospital Johns Hopkins Medicine was recently awarded its first National Institutes of Health (NIH) grant since becoming a member of Johns Hopkins Medicine in 2011. ACH Receives $717,000 NIH Grant for The spit test means kids can avoid one more needle for blood work.

• Cover