Endowed Chairs
Children’s Cancer Research Fund has a long-standing commitment to guarantee ongoing research support well into the future. Endowed chairs provide a constant stream of funding to keep research moving forward and help recruit and retain top faculty.
Children’s Cancer Research Fund Land Grant Chair
John H. Kersey, M.D. | High-risk childhood leukemia: MLL gene
Dr. Kersey is the founding director of the Masonic Cancer Center and is a professor in the University of Minnesota departments of laboratory medicine/pathology and pediatrics.
Research Focus: High-risk childhood leukemia that is most common in infants or develops as a side effect of chemotherapy treatment for other cancers. His study of the MLL gene, which has shown resistance to conventional chemotherapy is providing new insights into the behavior of leukemia.
Children’s Cancer Research Fund Cancer Center Chair
Julie A. Ross, Ph.D. | Molecular epidemiology of childhood cancer
Dr. Ross is the co-chief medical advisor of Children’s Cancer Research Fund, and a worldwide leader in childhood cancer epidemiology.
Research Focus: Ross’s research focuses on understanding the causes and consequences of childhood cancer and long-term survivorship health of survivors.
Hageboeck Family/Children’s Cancer Research Fund Chair
John Wagner, M.D. | Umbilical cord blood and adult stem cell research
Dr. Wagner is the co-chief medical advisor of Children’s Cancer Research Fund, director of the pediatric hematology/oncology/blood and marrow transplantation division and is internationally recognized as an expert in the field of stem cells and umbilical cord blood transplantation.
Research Focus: Wagner’s research focuses on understanding the biology of stem cells and their potential to treat disease and repair tissue.
Hedberg Family/Children’s Cancer Research Fund Chair
Open | Brain tumor research
Research Focus: A team of leading brain tumor researchers have been focused on advancing treatments of brain tumors, the most deadly form of childhood cancer.
Lehman Family/Children’s Cancer Research Fund Chair
Brenda Weigel, M.D. | Immune-based therapies of solid tumors
Dr. Weigel the Director of the Division of Pediatric Hematology/Oncology at the University of Minnesota. She is also vice-chair of the developmental therapeutics program for the Children’s Oncology Group.
Research Focus: Dr. Weigel focuses on advancing new therapies for patients, particularly therapies that harness the immune system’s role in fighting cancer.