NEW FUNDING
$874,000
Awarded to Professor Matt Dun to support his work following a $2million grant by the federal government.
Coming together with RUNdipg & The Mark Hughes Foundation we proudly stand by the dun lab.
More details on this funding to come soon.
FUNDING UPDATE
Professor Matt Dun made an announcement of news he had only just received on his way in to our Coffee for a Cure by Night event Feb 2025.
Matt purchased an experimental drug called ONC201 from Germany after testing it in his lab which helped extend the life of his daughter Josie in 2019.
The Little Legs Foundation supported his research into studying this medicine which has now seen it become recognised by FDA as a potential treatment against DIPG.
For DIPG the only treatment ever offered has been 30 rounds of palliative radiotherapy.
To have played a part in this kind of change for our babies has overwhelmed me considerably.
So proud to stand beside these two.
Matt and Jo, GM of RUNdipg- the charity Matt & his wife Phoebe have founded.
Dedication at its finest. Love & admiration for all.
What an Army! Thank you to you all for playing your part and helping make this happen!
$326,000
In this grant researchers have tried to harness the patients immune system to help in the recognition and destruction of dipg tumours.
Using drugs discovered in A/Prof Matt Duns laboratory, researchers have been able to categorise due to the funding of this grant how the immune system may play a role in the destruction of these tumours for patients that receive a good response to the therapies.
This is groundbreaking work that identifies that a patients immune system can be awoken, can recognise the tumour and be a part of its destruction.
$477,573
Throughout the last three years the Dun Lab has been sequencing DIPG tumours and what they have discovered is that there is a unique protein localised on the surface of the tumour cells that might be targeted with new therapeutics the lab is currently developing and thanks to this funding researchers are now actively generating new therapies that target this protein for the destruction of DIPG tumours.
The legacy of two little girls - Alegra & Josie, means other innocent angels get a fighting chance.
EVE
$26,794
Cutting-edge DMG research continues to forge ahead at the University of Newcastle, with support from the Little Legs Foundation, together with the Isabella and Marcus Foundation.
Our (LLF) contribution of $26,794 will provide new equipment for Dr Ryan Duchatel and the Dun Lab to investigate the mutations and conditions that converge to trigger the initiation of DMG tumours.
The team will create increasingly sophisticated animal models to allow deeper understanding of how and why DMG tumours specifically form in children and young adults, and work towards developing and evaluating more novel therapies.
So very proud to continue to play a small part in the amazing work of the #dunlab
