Joint $1.5 Million to Dr. Brian Ladle at John Hopkins for Ewing Sarcoma Research

In a powerful act of unity and determination, SDF has joined forces with four other organizations led by mothers who have all lost a child to Ewing sarcoma. Together, we committed $1.5 million, to a three-year research initiative focused specifically on advancing treatments and changing the future for children with Ewing sarcoma.

This first-of-its-kind partnership honors the legacies of Sam Day, Max Ritvo, Carley Rutledge, Noah Shohet, and Faris Virani—young lives lost to this devastating disease, but whose stories continue to fuel a growing movement for a cure.

Dr. Brian Ladle, a pediatric oncologist and immunotherapy expert at Johns Hopkins University, was selected for his innovative approach to creating a vaccine using the body’s own immune system to treat the most difficult cases of Ewing sarcoma, those that have either spread or returned.

The goal is for the vaccine to train the immune system to only identify, attack, and remember Ewing sarcoma cells —giving the body a powerful, lasting defense against recurrence and keeping the rest of the body’s immune system strong, which cancer and radiation tend to diminish.

While the concept for this vaccine is not new, Dr. Ladle and his team, in collaboration with the National Cancer Institute, have identified more advanced and targeted methods for further isolating the unique markers found on Ewing tumors.