Thanks to your incredible support, The Cure Starts Now and the DIPG/DMG Collaborative have funded 17 grants during the 2024 grant cycle! That's 17 opportunities to make groundbreaking strides toward curing cancer.
When we fund research, we’re not just fulfilling the dreams of our families and warriors who wish for a cure—we’re also supporting the researchers who dedicate their lives to turning those dreams into reality. We often tell our researchers that we have the easy job of raising the money, but they have the hard job of finding a cure.
One such researcher is Dr. Manjeet Rao of the Greehey Children’s Cancer Research Institute – UT Health San Antonio, whose grant proposal was accepted and funded with your generous donations. Upon receiving his grant, Dr. Rao shared his gratitude:
“You guys [The Cure Starts Now] are doing a wonderful job... it’s just amazing, that’s what wakes me up in the morning.”
At The Cure Starts Now, we strive to make every day worthwhile by helping researchers achieve their goals, knowing that their dreams are shared by our families: finding a cure for childhood brain cancer.
The Challenges in Childhood Cancer Treatment
When families face a childhood cancer diagnosis, they quickly learn a harsh truth: most cancer treatments weren’t designed with children in mind. Chemotherapy and radiation, developed more than five decades ago, remain the primary treatment options. These outdated methods often come with devastating long-term side effects that rob children of the quality of life they deserve.
A Grant to Change the Game

Dr. Rao’s research focuses on changing that reality of children battling medulloblastoma, a type of pediatric cancer. His grant aims not only to block the growth of medulloblastoma cells, but also to significantly enhance the efficacy of radiation therapy.
“We have shown that these drugs can greatly improve the efficacy of radiation therapy. As you know, we literally fry our kids’ brains with 35 to 50 gray of radiation,” Dr. Rao explained. “We don’t have to do that. If we can just reduce the dose by 1/10th... we can not only give them quality of life, but also help with all the secondary complications that come long after they are done with their treatment. That is exciting.”
Exciting, indeed! Innovations like these wouldn’t be possible without the unwavering support of donors like you. Together, we’re funding research that not only offers hope for a cure but also ensures a better future for children fighting brain cancer.
Your Donations Matter
Your generosity has a direct impact on the lives of families and children battling brain cancer. By funding researchers like Dr. Rao, you are helping to advance treatments that could revolutionize the way childhood cancer is treated, improving survival rates and long-term outcomes.
Thank you for standing with us in the fight to find a cure. Together, we’re making dreams come true—for families, for warriors, and for the researchers working tirelessly toward a world without cancer.
To help fund this extraordinary research, consider becoming a monthly donor at donate2csn.org/monthly