Team Jack Foundation

About Team Jack Foundation

The mission of the Team Jack Foundation is to raise money and awareness for childhood brain cancer research. Since our inception in January 2013, the Foundation has raised over $12.5 million for research and has committed $9.265 million to projects locally and nationally. The vast majority of funding for childhood cancer research comes from small, private nonprofit foundations like Team Jack. Through fundraising, advocacy and awareness, we do everything we can to contribute to the essential cause of childhood brain cancer research.

While research of all childhood cancers is extremely underfunded, childhood brain cancer in particular needs immediate attention. Over the past 40 years, brain cancer has overtaken leukemia as the deadliest childhood cancer.  That’s not because there have been more cases of childhood brain cancer but because the survival rate of leukemia has increased. And the survival rate of childhood brain cancer has not increased at all. That is why we continue to fight. The current survival rate of childhood brain cancer is about 70%—but we fight to get it to 100%. 

To date, there has NEVER been a drug developed specifically for kids with brain cancer. 

The best way to increase a child’s chance of survival is investing in more resources for better treatments. Childhood brain cancer is woefully under-researched, and the Team Jack Foundation exists to propel more research by providing funds. 

Donations to the Team Jack Foundation support: 

  • Identifying and treating childhood brain cancer genetic mutations. 

  • Successful, cancer-fighting medicines proven to be gentler on children’s long-term health.

  • Improved neurosurgical procedures.

Your investment in Team Jack goes directly to research that will change a child’s life. This fight is bigger than any of us and bigger than our Nebraska home. Nationwide, we will fight for a world without childhood brain cancer. 

The Team Jack Foundation was founded by Andy and Brianna Hoffman, whose son, Jack, our namesake, was diagnosed with a brain tumor in 2011. In July 2020, shockingly, Andy was diagnosed with brain cancer himself. On Monday, March 1, 2021, Andy passed away from the disease. Throughout his diagnosis, Andy’s passion for funding childhood brain cancer remained as he completed his book, Yards After Contact, that tells their families story and why they are so passionate about raising funds for the disease.  

The Team Jack Foundation is committed to work harder than ever to ensure Andy’s legacy shines, and his mission grows.

Programs & Services Offered

  • Nebraska Childhood Brain Tumor Program Update:  In 2015, together with the Nebraska legislature, Team Jack committed $3 million to the development of a childhood brain tumor program at UNMC’s Fred & Pamela Buffett Cancer Center. With the passing of LB 110 in 2015, public and private resources are continuously being raised to attract brain tumor experts to Nebraska and build a comprehensive program.  In 2018, Team Jack pledge an additional $5 million for the development of the Power 5 Pediatric Brain Tumor Initiative at UNMC and Children’s Hospital & Medical Center to support key areas of focus:  laboratory research, clinical research, pain management and education.  Learn more about this program and updates on this program here: https://teamjackfoundation.org/nebraintumorprogram/.

    National Research Update: The Team Jack Foundation is excited to announce the funding for two new national research projects for 2022- 2023. Each project promises advancements in new treatment protocols for children fighting brain cancer.

    • Defining and Targeting Master Regulator Dependencies from Bulk and Single-Cell RNA-sec in DMG

    Team Jack has committed $250,000 to Dr. Jovana Pavisic at Columbia University Irving Medical Center in New York for her research on diffuse midline gliomas (DMG), a universally fatal central nervous system malignancy occurring primarily in childhood that involved midline structures.  Aside from radiation therapy to prolong life, there are no effective drugs identified to date and median time to progression remains dismal at nine months.  While progress has been made in its biological and genomic characterization, this has not resulted in therapeutic benefits.  Further work needs to be done to identify new approaches for new therapies for DMG as they are urgently needed.

  • Uncovering Hidden Drivers of Low-Grade Gliomas 

    Team Jack has committed an additional $250,000 at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute/Boston Children’s Cancer and Blood Disorders Center to Dr. Pratiti (Mimi) Bandopadhayhay to apply a genomic approach to identify drivers of pediatric low-grade glioma (pLGG) growth. Understanding these “mystery drivers” is critical to treating and ultimately curing pLGGs.

    Did You Know

  • Brain tumors are the leading cause of cancer death from childhood cancer.

  • Kids are using treatments that are the same as those used in the 1970s.

  • In 77 years, they have only come up with 3 new drugs for pediatric cancers, for adults, in 7 years, they have developed 77 drugs for adult cancers. To date, there has NEVER been a drug developed specifically for childhood brain cancer.

  • Nearly 5,000 children are diagnosed with a brain tumor annually.

  • 95% of children who survive cancer will have a significant health condition by the age of 45 as a direct result of the toxicities from their treatment.

  • The incidence of childhood cancer in Nebraska exceeds the incidence in the United States. •

  • Nebraska has the seventh highest incidence and ranks in the top 10 for mortality for this disease.

  • Less than 4% of the National Cancer Institute’s research investments are spent on childhood cancer, let alone child brain cancer.

  • The BIGGEST obstacle to NEW childhood brain tumor research studies is the lack of funding.

  • Due to very little Federal funding on pediatric brain cancer research, private Foundations like Team Jack play a critical role in supporting research.

  • In addition to funding research, the Foundation works closely with over 90 families in Nebraska and surrounding states who are affected by brain cancer to offer support and to introduce them to others who are affected by the disease. This is known as the Team Jack Family.

You Can Help

You can be the difference in funding a child by investing in impactful childhood brain tumor research.

  • $50 funds an hour of research.

  • $100 funds two hours of research.

  • $250 funds half a day of research.

  • $500 funds over one day of research.

  • $1,000 funds over two days of research.

Dollars at Work

  • In July 2023, the Team Jack Foundation awarded $737,000 in grant funding for three investigators at the University of Nebraska Medical Center as part of the Power 5 Childhood Brain Tumor Initiative which is a $5 million commitment to UNMC and Children’s Hospital & Medical center for research, pain management and education.

  • In 2022, the Team Jack Foundation granted $10,000 to Dr. Chittalsinh Raulji for Intensive Program Training in Colorado.  The Team Jack Foundation is proud to announce a commitment of $10,000 in June to support the education of Dr. Chittalsinh Raulji in pediatric neuro-oncology at the University of Colorado School of Medicine. This grant is part of Team Jack's Power 5 Brain Tumor Initiative at UNMC.  As Nebraska's only cancer center, UNMC is deeply committed to caring for the children of our region with top-notch care. In order to do this, it is important to have specialized physicians to treat kids, specifically with brain cancer. To complete the team of physicians necessary to treat kids with brain tumors, a pediatric neuro-oncologist is critical to ensure access to advanced care and clinical trials. Due to the high demand for pediatric neuro-oncologists and their limited numbers, it has been difficult to recruit one to Nebraska. Despite this challenge, UNMC has successfully filled this gap. Since his training, the University of Nebraska Medical Center has been able to bring over 10 clinical trial to UNMC which offers children with brain cancer an additional option for treatment.  This is the ultimate goal of the program. In addition, Dr. Raulji and the team at UNMC now has a multidisciplinary team that meets monthly to discuss brain tumor cases and the best course of treatment for patients.

  • In 2017, the Team Jack Foundation joined other national non-profits to fund basic/translational science and subsequently the clinical trial phases of a project entitled TAK580 lead by Principal Investigator, Dr. Karen Wright, at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston, MA.  This promising therapy is an oral treatment taken once-a-week for children battling relapsed glioma brain tumors. To date, the Team Jack Foundation has committed $800,000 to this project.  In May 2020, Day One Biopharmaceuticals, a pharmaceutical company whose focus is to bring new treatments to market that benefit children, announced that they had acquired TAK580 (DAY101), and it will be their top priority. Day One is developing DAY101, now referred to as tovorafenib, as a targeted treatment for children with brain cancer and is working to bring this new therapy to market worldwide.  In June, Day One Biopharmaceuticals announced positive data from this pivotal trial.  In October 2023, Day One announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) accepted is New Drug Application (NDA) for tovorafenib as a monotherapy in relapsed or progressive pediatric low-grade glioma (pLGG).  The FDA has granted priority review and assigned a Prescription Drug User Fee Act (PPDUFA) target action date of April 30, 2024.  This is one step closer to bringing this novel target therapy to children.

  • In January 2023, the Team Jack Foundation committed to two national research projects:

    •  $240,000 at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute/Boston Children’s Cancer and Blood Disorders Center to Dr. Pratiti (Mimi) Bandopadhayhay to apply a genomic approach to identify drivers of pediatric low-grade glioma (pLGG) growth. Understanding these “mystery drivers” is critical to treating and ultimately curing pLGGs. 

    • $250,000 to Columbia University Irving Medical Center to Dr. Jovana Pavisic for her research project titled:A systems biology approach to defining and targeting master regulator dependencies from bulk and single-cell RNA-seq in diffuse midline glioma (DMG). DMG currently has 0% survival rate amongst children.

Contact Info
Atkinson: 402-925-2120 | website | PO Box 607, Atkinson, NE 68713 | 47640 E. Hwy 20, Suite 2, Atkinson, NE 68713