This past April, a group of incredibly generous supporters gathered at the Armory in downtown Minneapolis to celebrate progress and invest in the future of childhood cancer research. That night, these supporters raised nearly $1.3 million.

Four months later, that support has funded seven new research projects at the University of Minnesota. Each of these projects were chosen by a group of peer-reviewers at the University of Minnesota and scored based on their high potential for clinical or public health impact. The goal of each of these projects is to build the foundation for more research and future grants and lead to the development of novel cancer therapies.

"These grants are a critical first step in improving outcomes for young cancer patients," said John Hallberg, CEO of Children's Cancer Research Fund. "They allow these talented scientists to explore new ideas that will lead to new and better treatments. We are incredibly grateful for the supporters who contributed to the Dream Fund and allowed us to invest in research that makes a difference."

These seven new research projects will cover a wide range of research areas, including:

• Immune therapy to reduce skin blistering in patients with epidermolysis bullosa

• Targeted therapies to inhibit expression of genes  that cause osteosarcoma

• Genetic pathways involved in hepatoblastoma risk and survival

• Health impacts of platinum-based chemotherapy used to treat pediatric germ cell tumors

• Identifying, isolating and killing chemoresistant leukemia cells that contribute to relapse

• Understanding the genetics of Ewing sarcoma using pluripotent stem cell technology

• Targeting multiple checkpoints to fight brain tumors