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Our NIH grant support exceeds $100 million

For two decades, PANDA has supported the initial work of researchers to submit for grants from the National Institutes of Health (NIH). To date, our researchers have received more than $100 million in NIH grants. These grants provide essential financial support to expand upon PANDA’s initial scientific investigations, enabling the exploration of innovative ideas and advancements in various fields. The NIH’s rigorous peer-review process ensures that only the most promising and impactful studies receive funding, promoting scientific excellence, enhancing researchers’ credibility, opening doors for collaboration, and driving breakthroughs that benefit society as a whole.

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Half-Match Bone Marrow Transplant

PANDA-funded researcher Emmanuel Katsanis, MD, and his team of pediatric cancer researchers are improving outcomes of haploidentical (half-match) bone marrow transplantation, an alternative for cancer patients who need a bone marrow transplant but cannot find a donor match. This means a donor doesn’t have to be a perfect match—he or she can be a “half-match.” These breakthroughs allow a pediatric patient’s parents or siblings to possibly be suitable donors, providing answers and hope to countless families. “This is particularly important in Arizona where we have a large population of Hispanics, who only have about a 45% chance of finding an unrelated bone marrow match.”

Women in Science

PANDA’s Women in Science was launched to address the fact that while more and more women enter the medical field every year, fewer than 25% practice medical research. Our program at the Steele Children’s Research Center supports promising female physician-scientists as they build their clinical and research careers. Dr. Sydney Rice has been funded by PANDA since 2008 and is now a leading developmental and behavioral pediatrician who runs one of the only CPAE clinics in the nation.

PANDA Aerodigestive Center

The PANDA Children’s Aerodigestive Disorders Center is both a clinical and research facility. It is the only one of its kind in the entire state of Arizona – built in Tucson with PANDA funding in 2007. The center serves children who are suffering from eosinophilic gastrointestinal disorders – disorders of the digestive tract caused by allergies to food and airborne allergens. Children with eosinophilic esophagitis and/or eosinophilic gastroenteritis often fail to grow, suffer from nausea, vomiting, stomach pain, choking, cramping, and diarrhea. Arizona has far more cases of EE/ EG than the national average, yet there was no place in the western U.S. where children can receive dedicated care for this painful disease. In response, the PANDA Center now serves Arizona and the Southwest, employing a team approach to treat children with aerodigestive disorders.

PANDA Children’s Neurological Center

The PANDA Children’s Neurological Center opened in 2014 after PANDA raised more than $1 million to establish the center and fund recruitment of neurological specialists and research. The Center holds interdisciplinary clinics in autism, concussion, traumatic brain injury, near-downing, and newborn follow-up. “We’re so grateful for the passion, dedication and hard work of the PANDAs,” said Steele Children’s Research Center director, Fayez K. Ghishan, MD. “Their commitment to improve children’s health through cutting-edge research, translated into clinical care, has made this center a much-needed reality.”

Endowed Directorship

To commemorate Dr. Fayez K. Ghishan’s 25th anniversary as director of the Steele Children’s Research Center in 2020, PANDA created an Endowed Directorship in his name, the Fayez K. Ghishan MD, PANDA Endowed Directorship. The $5 million endowment celebrated his transformative work and dedication to saving the lives of children everywhere. PANDA’s endowed chair provides a mechanism for perpetual funding, allowing the holder of the chair to continue his or her research without interruption. This is extremely important, especially in this era of increasing competitive federal research funding.

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Backing Key Partnerships

PANDA provides the financial backing for key partnerships between the Steele Children’s Research Center and other premier medical facilities across the nation. In 2008, PANDA began funding infantile epilepsy research that included work in genetics, metabolic, and structural brain issues.This research project was conducted in partnership with Rady Children’s Genomic Institute in San Diego. The Rady team provided whole genome sequencing and the Steele Children’s Research Center investigated genetic mutations and determined their functionality and how to treat them. The work continues with the goal of developing a new paradigm for treatment of these children with epilepsy.