The “Alexa” Project

Pilot funding sponsored by Alexa’s Honor Page

The goal of The Alexa Project is to find new treatments to move towards clinical trials for all children affected with the neurofibromatosis-1 (NF1) associated brain tumors called juvenile pilocytic astrocytoma (JPA). The Alexa Project has two stages.

In the pilot stage we created a road-map for NF1-associated JPA and carefully determined all the cell lines for NF1-associated JPA, both from patients and from mice. Then we will collect more surgical and autopsy samples to increase the number of cell cultures and cell lines, find new classes of drugs to initiate clinical trials for NF1-associated JPA.

Alexa and children like her deserve a treatment regiment as aggressive as the cancer they are fighting. They are our inspirations – our heroes!