ROBERT CONNOR DAWES FOUNDATION

Impact Report

10+ years of changing the odds for kids with brain cancer.

Liz's Update

As a valued ‘investor’ with the Robert Connor Dawes Foundation I wanted to share with you our 2025 Impact Report, reviewing the last twelve months of meaningful initiatives and key research that you, our valued partner has helped bring to fruition.

Over the last twelve months and indeed the last twelve years, we have continued to firmly bring public attention and awareness to paediatric brain cancer, still the #1 disease killer of young people.

We have also infused interest and focus within the paediatric brain cancer sector. Under the direction of our Head of Research, Dr Kim Wark, we have helped lead and shape the priorities for the sector.

We continue to work closely with all research stakeholders and like-minded groups to ensure all investments made by you are directed to the areas of highest need and making the biggest impact. By partnering with like-minded funding organisations, we have been able to fully fund projects and effectively double your giving impact.

Our passion to change the odds and improve outcomes has helped create a movement-that includes you (significant donors and company partners) and our ever-growing brain cancer community, including nearly two dozen Legacy Families.

Together, we have made enormous strides. With your help we have ensured better testing, more efficient clinical trials and funded new PhDs and Fellows working on exciting science.

Thank you for all you’ve allowed us to do and investing with us for the future- which will mean better outcomes for young people affected by brain cancer.

Aeternum Fortis,

Liz Dawes, OAM
Founder & CEO

Since

2013

Raised up until January 31 2025.
*From like-minded charities and government sources, effectively doubling your donation impact

IMPACT Timeline

Commencement of key initiatives

Research

Through our strategic collaborations across Australia, the US, and globally, we’re bringing world-class research to Australia, and investing in large collaborative projects to accelerate better treatment options for kids with brain cancer.

Care

Supporting families by organising and funding the only Australian in-home music therapy program for patients and their families. These programs give comfort to both the patient and the family are often not covered by insurance.

Development

Inspiring the next generation of brain cancer practitioners & researchers. Through funding travel grants, conferences and PhD Scholarships. We’re putting brain matters on the map.

RESEARCH

A few key 2024 research highlights

AIM BRAIN Project - Cutting Edge Diagnostic Tool for Kids with Brain Cancer

Following the successful translation into the clinic and accreditation of this advanced diagnostic test for brain cancer, RCDF together with Murdoch Children’s Research Institute was pivotal in securing funding from the Victorian Department of Health through the Victorian Cancer Agency, to subsidise the cost for 100 Australian patients tests and evaluate the test's economic benefits and its impact on patient treatment and outcomes. The goal is to have the test covered by existing healthcare funding programs, removing financial barriers to testing, making it more accessible.

Discovering Paediatric Specific Drug Targets to Develop Novel Therapies for Children with High Grade Gliomas (PhD Project)

During her PhD studies Ms. Shazia Adjumain has identified an important biomarker (BCL2L1 hypermethylation) which can be used to predict which children with high grade gliomas are most likely to respond to a specific drug therapy (MCL1 inhibitor). These findings are a significant step forward and have been published in a journal, presented at scientific conferences and protected in a patent application. Shazia will formally be awarded her doctorate in early 2025 and is now working as a postdoctoral fellow in Professor Ron Firestein’s laboratory continuing to advance paediatric brain cancer research.

Thanks to the Spotlight Foundation, the Gratzer & Goldstein families and Mister Zimi for supporting this project.

Ms. Shazia Adjumain

Dr Kim Wark - Head of Research RCD Foundation, Professor Brandon Wainwright - The University of Queensland, and Liz Dawes, OAM - CEO & Founder, RCD Foundation

An mRNA Vaccine to Treat Paediatric Brain Cancer- Ependymoma

Launched at the start of the year, the project has collected and analyzed human and mouse brain tumour tissues to determine which mRNA molecules are used in the vaccine. Our RCD CERN Fellow, Dr Samreen Shaikh visited Professor Eric Holland’s laboratory in Seattle, US to learn about the unique mouse model which she has brought back to Australia for the project. The first iteration of the vaccine will be synthesized early in 2025 and plans for a phase 1 clinical trial are underway. A partnership with a mRNA vaccine company that holds priority technology to effectively deliver the vaccine to the brain has been forged.

Thanks to Bella the Brave, Marisa & Fabin Rosin in memory of Marcus, The Brown Family in memory of Georgia, and Tioni and Jake in memory of Zarliah.

Enabling Personalised Medicine for Kids Brain Cancer to be implemented in the clinic

A molecular oncologist is involved in facilitating precision medicine within the hospital and research environments. The position coordinates information from research programs which characterize the tumour at a genetic level and clinical trials in addition to standard clinical care. After co-funding this position at the Royal Children’s Hospital, Melbourne, for four years, Dr. Dong Anh Khuong Quang has published twelve scientific papers, chaired many committees, contributed to the ZERO Childhood Cancer program, increased workforce capabilities and significantly increased access to clinical trials for kids with brain cancer at the Royal Children’s Hospital and other sites. Most importantly, the hospital now funds this position without philanthropic support.

Thanks to the Money Family for their support, in memory of Gracie.

Dr. Dong Anh Khuong Quang

Professor Misty Jenkins

Advancing CAR T cell Therapy for Children with Ependymoma

Building on our previous investment in CAR T cell research in Professor Misty Jenkins laboratory, RCD is now co-funding with the Victorian Government, through the Department of a new PhD project to establish paediatric specific Ependymoma models and produce enhanced, novel CAR T cell therapies to treat ependymoma tumours in children. Ms Milie Desai has already identified and validated over six novel targets and is engineering new CAR T cells for testing. She is currently determining the optimal treatment time.

CLINICAL TRIALS

The RCD Foundation has contributed funding towards eight clinical trials, including:

Five trials currently open:
PNOC-019, PNOC-022, DART, CONNECT-1905, CONNECT-2108
Two trials in development:
PNOC-029, SJiMB-21
One recently closed trial:
LGG-Avastin

A few examples are highlighted below:

NICHE-HGG Trial (PNOC-019):

For children and young adults with recurrent or progressing high grade gliomas (HHG). It is the first study to examine if immunotherapy can help boost the immune response in children with HGG, and will provide preliminary data on changes in patient survival.

Co-funded with Cure Brain Cancer Foundation, with additional funding from Love for Lachie and The Australian Brain Cancer Mission.

Low Grade Glioma (LGG) Avastin Trial:

This study will test the effectiveness of a drug used in combination with chemotherapy in children and adolescences aged 6 months to 18 years old with progressive or inoperable low grade gliomas.

Co-funded with Cancer Australia.

PNOC-022 (DMG-ACT):

It will assess whether adding a new drug (ONC201) in combination with two others (panobinostat and paxalisib) to standard treatments improves outcomes for children, adolescence and young adults with Diffuse Midline Gliomas (including DIPG) at initial diagnosis, post-radiation therapy and at time of progression. Being flexible, it allows others drugs to be rapidly added into the trial we promising research emerges.

Co-funded with Isabella & Marcus Foundation, Australian Communities Foundation, Australian Brain Cancer, Mission and Wayne Francis Charitable Trust

CARE

A few key highlights about our unique music therapy program since inception.

WHEN THE HEART SINGS THE MIND Heals

Development of a national Music Therapy program with $333,000 given in our in-home Music Therapy Grants

More than 139 children benefited from improved motor skills and well-being through involvement in our Music Therapy program

All 9 children’s hospitals across Australia are involved in the referral program for Music Therapy

DEVELOPMENT

Key highlights of our investment in development since our inception.

SINCE INCEPTION THE RCD FOUNDATION HAS FUNDED:

5 PhDs funded since inception

5 CERN & RCDF Scientific Fellowship awarded by the National Brain Tumor Society

3 postdoctoral scientists funded since inception

Active supporting members of 4 internationally recognised paediatric brain cancer consortia

MAKING THE WORLD SMALLER FOR PAEDIATRIC BRAIN CANCER RESEARCHERS TO LEARN FROM
the brightest minds

Focusing on Knowledge Exchange & Collaboration

Sponsorship and support for 24 local, national and internationally recognised conferences, symposiums or meetings, enabling knowledge exchange and fostering research collaborations. The funding of these key industry conferences such as the Ependymoma Science Meeting (EpCam) in Cambridge, UK, which has resulted in a number of research collaborations directly stemming from this important conference sponsored by the RCD Foundation

Global Research Travel Grants

Increased global reach and collaboration through our funding of 41 researcher travel grants awarded to Australian researchers to ensure they can attend and present at key national and international conferences

KEY ADVOCACY ACHIEVEMENTS:

The Robert Connor Dawes Foundation continues to advocate for children with brain cancer and their families, partnering with renowned paediatric brain cancer research labs and consortia around the world.

Member of Australian Brain Cancer Mission Funders Group

Children's Brain Tumor Network (CBTN) partner

The Collaborative Ependymoma Research Network (CERN) Foundation

Supporter of COllaborative Network for
NEuro-oncology
Clinical Trials (CONNECT)

DIPG/DMG Collaborative member

Australian Brain Tumour Collaborative (ABTC) member

BIG SKY PROJECTS YOU'RE HELPING US INVEST IN:

Ependymoma Vaccine

We are very excited to announce the establishment of the first Australian laboratory solely dedicated to ependymoma research.

The new team will be based at the Children’s Brain Cancer Centre (CBCC), located in the University of Queensland. It will focus on a developing an RNA vaccine for ependymoma and work collaboratively with experts in the Ian Frazer Centre For Children’s Immunotherapy Research at the university and the Holland Laboratory at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center in the United States.

As part of this project we are also co-funding a CERN-RCD Fellow who has spent time in the US labs learning techniques and bringing the expertise to Australia.

Paediatric brain tumours compared with adult tumours have less changes in their genetic material and therefore are able to ‘hide’ from the immune system more easily. The vaccine approach aims to significantly ramp up the body’s own immune defenses against the tumour. We have focused on Ependymoma because this type of brain tumour does not respond to any known chemotherapy. A combination of surgery and radiation therapy can be effective in some patients in the first instance. However, when those tumours reappear there is no effective therapy. We are working hard to change this.

Big Data

In a rapidly evolving field, the use of data in medical applications is without doubt the future.

We are working with the Centre for Data Driven Discovery in Biomedicine (D3b) within the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia Research Institute with Dr Adam Resnick’s group and the Childrens Brain Tumour Network (CBTN) who have already made significant breakthroughs in establishing open source platforms with paediatric brain cancer data which is linked and can be interrogated by clinicians and researchers.

By building an evidence base pool of cases we can start to use machine learning and AI predict outcomes and build accurate clinical decision making tools.

To achieve this vision there are a number of steps along the way. Our collaborative project involving some Australian hospitals, will be a pilot to determine the most efficient and effective model to extract, gather and link paediatric brain cancer data for analysis in a consented, ethical manner, mirroring the US Kids First platform.