Project Violet

This beautifully written account reminds us of what and why we're fighting to beat pediatric brain cancer every day. It is such a brutal tragedy when cancer robs families of their beloved children.

My Beautiful Boy We had a son named Amar. He loved Star Wars and Harry Potter. He would try any food but was a carnivore, and he hated most fruit. He loved the guitar, playing soccer, and riding his bike. He was in awe of airplanes. He was happiest playing in sand on the beach or the ocean. All of these could apply....

We're very proud to share that one of our own, Dr. Erin Crotty, will join Seattle Children's as an Assistant Professor of Pediatrics. She will be leading the retinoblastoma program while continuing to care for kids with brain and spinal cord tumors. We all admire her deep dedication to the patient behind the disease and her curiosity into the causes driving pediatric cancer. Congratulations!

We were excited to have some high school students tour the lab for the first time in a long time. It is inspiring for us to see the next generation of young scientists and we hope that we inspired some of them too!

We're very excited to announce the results of the largest high-risk medulloblastoma trial were published today in JAMA Oncology. In a huge collaborative effort, we have evidence for a new treatment that increases survival by nineteen percent!!

In the words of Dr. Jim Olson himself, "Since the advent of radiation and chemotherapy over a half century ago, we’ve never seen this big of an improvement in one clinical trial for kids with brain tumors, to my knowledge. From this point forward [...] 20 more children out of every 100 will survive the disease than would have survived in the past. It’s a forever improvement, and it gives us a clear roadmap for the future."

If you want to read more of the story, check out this blog article: https://pulse.seattlechildrens.org/the-largest-medulloblastoma-trial-makes-monumental-strides-forward-for-cancer-research-increases-survival-in-children-by-19-percent/

The scientific paper can be found here: https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamaoncology/fullarticle/2782033

The Largest High-Risk Medulloblastoma Trial Makes Monumental Strides Forward for Cancer Research, Increases Survival in Children by 19 Percent Seattle Children’s is excited to announce results published today in JAMA Oncology.

We're very excited to have a new member joining the Project Violet team. Welcome!

Hello everyone! My name is Bianka Haro and I recently joined the Olson lab as a Research Technician. I have had a long-standing desire to join Fred Hutch because of its fearless science and its engagement within the community. I hope to be able to contribute a novel perspective with my background in industry as well as my experience participating in DEI initiatives.

The whole lab got together for the first time in a long while to celebrate the many accomplishments and achievements that we didn't have the chance to this last year. Some of these faces have moved into or started companies to further pursue their scientific passion, some have started new research laboratories and projects in pediatric brain cancer, and some have completed their doctoral work. We celebrate each and every one of these people (you know who you are). While it is bittersweet to have beloved coworkers leave the group, we are very proud of what we've achieved in our time together and know that it is a step to achieving even greater things. Cheers and congratulations to everybody!

More congratulations are in order as members of Project Violet graduate to bigger and better things. We are excited to see Dr. Nick Vitanza starting his own lab at Seattle Children's where he will be joined by a couple talented members of the Olson lab, Matt Biery and Carrie Myers. We will sorely miss them in the lab, but are also extremely proud to see them move on and continue the fight against pediatric brain cancer.

Nick Vitanza on Twitter “The first delivery. Currently fighting the urge to open and organize everything myself but determined to have a Christmas morning gift opening with the team when they officially start on Tuesday!”

So proud to see Dr. Eric Nealy receive more recognition for making the Husky 100 List! Check out the link to learn more about his research. Hope you all have a Happy Juneteenth weekend!

Two ISCRM Trainees Named to 2021 Husky 100 List Eric Scott Nealy, PhD and Kendan Jones-Isaac have been recognized for their contributions to cancer and kidney research.

Congratulations to Dr. Eric Nealy for being selected as one of this year's Husky 100! An incredible honor to be selected out of the entire class at UW, his dedication to science has been an incredible example that has inspired many others.
https://www.washington.edu/husky100/ =eric-scott-nealy

Check out this cool article on the history of scorpion venom and how we're using it to help kids with brain cancer.

What’s So Special About the Deathstalker Scorpion? How an obscure arachnid from the deserts of the Middle East and Northern Africa rocketed to media stardom, and has even saved lives.

Another exciting publication from the Olson lab investigating the role of the immune system in the recurrence of pediatric brain cancer. Thanks for all your support in our pursuit of helping kids survive the unthinkable and please join me in congratulating the team!

Medulloblastoma recurrence and metastatic spread are independent of colony-stimulating factor 1 receptor signaling and macrophage survival Purpose Tumor infiltration by immunosuppressive myeloid cells or tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs) contributes to tumor progression and metastasis. In contrast to their adult counterparts, higher TAM signatures do not correlate with aggressive tumor behavior in pediatric brain tumors. While promin...

More cutting-edge research sponsored by Project Violet towards the development of personalized medicines was accepted for publication recently. Congratulations to the team and all involved!

https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fimmu.2021.658372/abstract