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 $14 million for research and has committed $12.7 million to 20 projects locally, and nationally and worldwide. 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.
Brain cancer remains one of the most challenging types of cancer treated in pediatric patients. Though relatively rare compared to other forms of cancer, brain tumors are a leading cause of cancer-related deaths in children. This underscores the critical need for continued research, awareness, and innovative treatment options to improve outcomes for children diagnosed with this devastating disease.
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%.
Until recently, there has NEVER been a drug developed specifically for kids with brain cancer, but there have been over 125 drugs created for adult cancers. Children are not adults. This must change.
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 three new national and global research projects for 2024-2025. The total commitment is $2,275,000. Projects by investigators are studying three different tumor types: pediatric low-grade gliomas, medulloblastomas and DIPG. By studying this, they believe these interactions could lead to new treatments specifically designed for children with these tumors. To learn more about these projects, visit: https://teamjackfoundation.org/our-impact/.
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. Until recently, 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
Since inception in 2013, the Team Jack Foundation has raised nearly $14 million to fund impactful childhood brain cancer research and has pledged nearly $12.7 million to research in Nebraska and world-wide.
The Team Jack Foundation awarded $514,696 in grant funding for two 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.
To date, the Foundation has awarded 15 grants totaling over $2.5 million to researchers at the University of Nebraska Medical Center as part of the Power 5 initiative.
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. On April 23, 2024, DAY101, now OJEMDA, received approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the treatment of patients six months of age and older with relapsed or refractory pLGG harboring a BRAF fusion or rearrangement, or BRAF V600 mutation. pLGG is the most common brain tumor diagnosed in children, with patients suffering profound tumor- and treatment-associated morbidities that can impact their life trajectory. BRAF is the most commonly altered gene in pLGG, with up to 75 percent of children having a BRAF alteration. Until now, there had been no medicines approved for patients with pLGG driven by BRAF fusions.
In December 2024, the Team Jack Foundation awarded $2,275,000 to three national research projects at eight different institutions world-wide.
For updates on currently funded projects and updates, visit: https://teamjackfoundation.org/our-impact/
Contact Info
Atkinson: 402-925-2120 | website | PO Box 607, Atkinson, NE 68713 | 47640 E. Hwy 20, Suite 2, Atkinson, NE 68713