Four hospitals in Florida, including Wolfson Children’s Hospital in Jacksonville and Nemours Children’s Hospital in Orlando, were awarded $7.5 million each Monday for pediatric cancer research.
WATCH: Press play in the video player below to watch a replay of the news conference
Gov. Ron DeSantis announced the funding at Wolfson, alongside First Lady Casey DeSantis, who is a breast cancer survivor.
“Childhood or pediatric cancer is the leading cause of death by disease for U.S. children under the age of 14. This is a stark reality for children and for families,” Gov. DeSantis said.
Despite that, funding for pediatric cancer research is typically lower than funding for adult cancer research, DeSantis said.
While pediatric cancer accounts for just one percent of cases nationally, Florida’s pediatric cancer population is significant, with the state accounting for six percent of all new pediatric cancer cases in the U.S.
To tackle these issues, Florida created the Cancer Connect Collaborative Research Incubator this year within the Florida Department of Health.
“The theory behind it was that you’d concentrate on specific areas of cancer research on a rotating basis every five years, trying to enhance research capacity throughout Florida,” DeSantis explained.
The Incubator is funded with $30 million and will focus on pediatric cancer in its first five-year funding cycle, awarded evenly to four hospitals.
The other two hospitals receiving funding are Nicklaus Children’s Hospital in Miami and Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital in St. Petersburg.
“They did submit applications, they had innovative proposals, and they’ve proposed comprehensive statewide cancer research and care initiatives that have a chance to bear fruit,” DeSantis said. “Our view is if there’s a really well-thought-out proposal that’s seeking to do innovative things, we want to provide support for that through this incubator program. And this is really going to make a difference.”
The incubator looks to find cures that otherwise wouldn’t be found.
“What happens is when you do these things, you discover things no one was even thinking about when you went in,” DeSantis said.
Dr. Mark Toney with Wolfson Children’s Hospital said the infusion of funding closes that gap between Florida and other states for treating childhood cancer.
“Although Florida is the third-largest state, we still lack a top 25 pediatric cancer program. Too many families have to travel out of state for treatment, an added burden during an already difficult time,” Toney said. “That will change.”
The first lady said she’s met many families dealing with pediatric cancer diagnoses.
“I remember when I got my diagnosis, I was just thinking to myself that I was very thankful that it was me and my family and it wasn’t him or my children. I can’t imagine what it would be like to have a child who is diagnosed with cancer,” Casey DeSantis said. “Today, as a result of this investment in great institutions who are doing wonderful things, there’s now more hope than ever before for a lot of parents out there who I know are suffering.”
Toney said the funding will accelerate cancer treatment by expanding access to care, recruiting top pediatric oncology talent, strengthening infrastructure, and advancing research that delivers new hope to families.
Cancer research funding has been a priority of the DeSantis Administration, and the governor says they’ve increased cancer research funding 114% during his time in office.