Sixty seconds with New Ideas researcher Dr Sara Badodi

Last month we funded 9 new childhood cancer research projects, marking our 10th anniversary of funding childhood cancer research.

The projects all focus on a ‘New Idea’ – an early idea that could one day change how children and young people with cancer are treated.

We spoke to Dr Sara Badodi, one of our new researchers. Her team at Queen Mary University of London hope to find out more about the earliest stages of a childhood brain tumour. Here’s what she told us.

What is your project about?

Our project is trying to understand how medulloblastoma, a type of childhood brain cancer, first starts to develop. We’re using 3D ‘mini-brain’ models grown in the lab so that we can look at the very early changes that happen when healthy brain cells begin to become cancerous.

Why is this research project important?

Children with medulloblastoma can face very intensive treatment, and some types of the disease are still particularly difficult to treat. We believe that understanding how the cancer begins could help us find better and more precise ways to tackle it.

How could your work eventually help children and young people with cancer?

Our hope is that this research will reveal new ways to target the cancer while causing less harm to healthy brain cells. In the future, that could help lead to treatments that are not only more effective, but also kinder for children and young people.

How do you feel to have been awarded a New Ideas Grant as part of The Little Princess Trust's 10-year research funding anniversary?

I’m absolutely delighted and very grateful to receive this award, especially in such a special anniversary year for The Little Princess Trust. It’s incredibly exciting to have the opportunity to test a new idea, and I’m very thankful for the LPT’s support of research that could make a real difference for children with cancer.

Find out more about Sara’s project here.