Ava's Army, Sidekick of Sammy's Superheroes Foundation, Supports Alex's Lemonade Stand Foundation in Funding High-Impact Research in Pediatric Leukemia

    WYNNEWOOD, PA, May 26, 2023 /24-7PressRelease/ -- Alex's Lemonade Stand Foundation (ALSF) has teamed up with Ava's Army, sidekick to Sammy's Superheroes Foundation, to co-fund an ALSF Innovation Grant with Co-Principal Investigators Linda Resar, MD, and Jian Jin, PhD, of Johns Hopkins University. Both Ava's Army and Sammy's Superheroes Foundation are based out of Nebraska. Like ALSF, they share a vision of funding cutting-edge research to find safer, more effective treatments and cures for childhood cancers like acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL).

Ava's Army was founded by Amanda Reinert in 2019 after her daughter Ava underwent a chemotherapy treatment to rid her body of leukemia. The treatment Ava received resulted in difficult side effects, including neuropathy due to nerve damage from chemotherapy as well as severe dental issues caused by her prescribed drugs and chemotherapy. Long-term effects from her treatment include a significantly greater risk of developing breast cancer and other secondary cancers as a result of her poisonous treatment. The treatment Ava received is the same treatment children with leukemia have been receiving for 20 years. Ava's Army's goal and mission is to raise funds for the best and most promising pediatric leukemia research.

"With over 3,500 children in the United States being diagnosed with leukemia every year, Ava's Army is here to join the fight to find a better, safer, and more effective way to save children diagnosed with leukemia," said Amanda Reinert, founder of Ava's Army.

Ava's Army is donating $68,369.70 to help fund Dr. Resar and Dr. Jin's project, titled "Developing Novel Transcription Factor PROTACs to Disrupt the HMGA1 Epigenome in Relapsed Leukemia." Dr. Resar and Dr. Jin's research should uncover novel PROTACs to target an "undruggable" protein that causes leukemia, and could provide new treatment paradigms for relapsed ALL and other pediatric cancers. They are working collaboratively with investigators from Johns Hopkins University, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, and New York University.

Alex's Lemonade Stand Foundation (ALSF) emerged from the front yard lemonade stand of cancer patient Alexandra "Alex" Scott (1996-2004). In 2000, 4-year-old Alex announced that she wanted to hold a lemonade stand to raise money to help find a cure for all children with cancer. Since Alex held that first stand, the Foundation bearing her name has evolved into a national fundraising movement, complete with thousands of supporters across the country carrying on her legacy of hope. To date, Alex's Lemonade Stand Foundation, a registered 501(c)3 charity, has raised more than $250 million toward fulfilling Alex's dream of finding a cure, funding over 1,000 pediatric cancer research projects nationally.

For more information on Alex's Lemonade Stand Foundation, visit www.AlexsLemonade.org.
For more information about Alex's Lemonade Stand Foundation's charity partnerships, visit www.AlexsLemonade.org/About/Charity-Collaborators
For more information about Sammy's Superheroes Foundation, visit www.SammysSuperheroes.org
You can learn more about Ava's Army on their Facebook page: www.facebook.com/Avas-Army-345834936149450/

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