Congressman Cohen Announces More than $2.6 Million in NIH Grants to St. Jude

WASHINGTON – Congressman Steve Cohen (TN-9) today announced that St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital will receive four research grants from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) totaling $2,613,871. The first, for $767,713, is from the National Cancer Institute for work on epigenomic control in neuroblastoma under the direction of Dr. Adam D. Durbin. The second, for $277,500, from the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, is for research addressing pediatric patients with Sickle Cell Disease, under the direction of Dr. Andrew M. Heitzer.

A third grant, for $508,750, from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences, is for biochemistry work under the direction of Dr. Hai T. Dao of the Department of Chemical Biology and Therapeutics. A fourth, for $1,059,908, also from the National Cancer Institute, is for St. Jude’s Lifetime Cohort Study under the direction of Dr. Melissa M. Hudson, director of the Cancer Survivorship Division.

Congressman Cohen made the following statement:

“I am always pleased to see the National Institutes of Health investing in the critical and life-saving work performed at St. Jude. Research on childhood cancers will save lives, while work mitigating the pain and trauma inflicted by Sickle Cell Disease will improve outcomes and lead to new discoveries. Keeping track of St. Jude’s outstanding record of success is a valuable resource. I commend St. Jude and Drs. Durbin, Heitzer, Dao and Hudson for undertaking this important research.”

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