A UA nursing professor is focusing on furthering her research on treatment for children with leukemia after receiving a $100,000 grant for the second time in December.
The research Ki Moore is currently doing investigates the effects of chemotherapy on developing healthy brain tissue in children and how it could impact learning abilities. The goal of her research is to develop strategies in the future that protect a child’s brain from injury during chemotherapy, Moore said. Moore received the $100,000 grant from Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation.
“I was delighted because it really supports our work and gives us an opportunity to further our research,” Moore said.
Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation was created in 2005 and named after founder Alexandra “Alex” Scott, who set up the first lemonade stand after being diagnosed with childhood cancer.
Scott’s plan was to give the profit from the stand to doctors to help find a cure for cancer. When Scott died in 2004, she had raised more than a million dollars; the next year her parents started the foundation and have been continuing Scott’s mission and raised more than $60 million for cancer research to date.
Moore won the Discovery Award, in 2009 and again at the end of 2012, which is awarded by the foundation to four researchers in the nation and includes a $50,000 grant each year, for two years.
The award is given to an experienced nurse researcher who shows a “commitment to pediatric cancer nursing” and is investigating forms of nursing care or improvements in quality of life for children with cancer, according to the foundation’s website.
“Ki is a higher level of a nurse researcher, so she actually does a little more in depth stuff than a lot of the other nurse researchers,” said Jay Scott, co-executive director of the foundation and Alex Scott’s father.
One in 300 boys and one in 333 girls will develop cancer before the age of 20, as stated on Cancer.net.
“People may think cancer is rare in young people, but when you hear that statistic then contributing to a foundation seeking better treatment and ways to improve quality of life is certainly worth while,” Moore said.
The money from the grant will be used for laboratory work, personnel and supply costs, and methods used during the research process, Moore said.
Winning this grant not only benefits Moore and her research but also gives nursing students at UA an opportunity to work on a nationally recognized medical investigation.
“Her program of research allows students to have experience with how she generates knowledge for care of children with leukemia and gives an opportunity for more novice investigators, faculty, and people with less experience work with her and become more experienced in research,” said Joan Shaver, dean of the College of Nursing.
