Courtesy photo Presenting Brian Morden Foundation’s initial gift to Dr. Kelly Bailey and her research in January 2020 are (from left): Childhood cancer survivor Addison Zearfaus, Dr. Kelly Bailey, BMF president and co-founder Dawn Morden, BMF secretary Cathy Chirdon, Addison’s mom Jessica Zearfaus, and BMF board member Bob Chirdon.

The Brian Morden Foundation recently presented Dr. Kelly Bailey, MD, PhD, a physician scientist at the UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh, another donation for her research. Dr. Bailey was updating the Brian Morden Foundation Research Committee with her progress via a Zoom call, when she was told of the $30,000 donation.

This is the third donation to Dr. Bailey since January 2020, and it has enabled her to advance her research as well as to receive a prestigious grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) for additional research. Dr. Bailey’s clinical and research focus is on the adolescent bone tumor Ewing sarcoma, the type of cancer that took Brian Morden’s life.

Dr. Linda McAllister-Lucas, chief of the Division of Pediatric Hematology/Oncology (PHO) at UPMC Children’s shared the good news from Dr. Bailey’s lab and thanked the Brian Morden Foundation for their support.

“I am so very proud of Kelly and so thrilled that she has received this major grant. Being awarded an NIH K08 is a major milestone for young physician scientists as they develop their research program. The future is very bright for Kelly’s research. Kelly’s discoveries have the potential to help many children diagnosed with Ewing sarcoma. Your gift has made an enormous impact. Our Division of Pediatric Hematology Oncology is so grateful for your generosity.”

In January 2020, the Brian Morden Foundation presented a $35,000 check to Dr. Bailey. This donation was made possible because of the success of “Keira’s Dream … a concert to benefit the Brian Morden Foundation,” which was held in December 2019.

An additional donation of $25,000 was presented in September 2020 to Dr. Bailey with the help of funds bequeathed to the Brian Morden Foundation from the Young estate and additional funds gifted to the BMF from the Bellwood Beagle Club.

Maura White, gift officer of the Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh Foundation, also expressed her thanks and shared a video from Dr. Bailey.

“Dr. Bailey’s recent award marks the first NIH K08 award in our division’s history. A Mentored Clinical Scientist Research Career Development Award, the K08 is a coveted grant that offers an up-and-coming physician-scientist funding to advance promising research. This accomplishment epitomizes the importance of your philanthropy. With your past support, Dr. Bailey and her team developed Ewing sarcoma mouse models with humanized immune systems. They are now focused on utilizing the model to investigate the efficacy of combination treatment regimens that integrate both chemotherapy and immunotherapy to combat metastatic or relapsed Ewing sarcoma. Your philanthropy effectively served as the launchpad from which Dr. Bailey successfully pursued federal funding.”

For more information about Dr. Bailey’s research and the Brian Morden Foundation, please see http://brianmordenfoundation.org or to donate to the Brian Morden Foundation, please contact Dawn Morden, president of the BMF at dbjmorden@brianmordenfoundation.org or 814-946-9369.

Contributions may also be made on the BMF website at https://www.brianmordenfoundation.org/support-bmf.