Pacific Pediatric Neuro-Oncology Consortium, Operations Center

Award: $500,000 over two years with the possibility of renewal for a third year

Project leaders: Michael Prados, MD, and Sabine Mueller, MD, PhD, University of California, San Francisco

The Pacific Pediatric Neuro-Oncology Consortium, or PNOC, is a network of children’s hospitals formed to provide children with brain tumors access to clinical trials of innovative treatments. The mission of the PNOC is to pursue clinical strategies that capitalize on each patient’s tumor-specific molecular and genetic make-up.

Each institution in the network has dedicated pediatric neuro-oncology research laboratories that lay the necessary groundwork to move quickly towards implementation of novel clinical trial concepts based on preclinical research. Each of the 15 participating hospitals also has the requisite multidisciplinary team of brain tumor specialists for optimal patient care and in-depth understanding of the needs of families and children suffering from this disease.

The Operations Center coordinates the activities of the PNOC across all participating centers and clinical trial protocols and is an essential component for the overall success of PNOC.