The St. Baldrick's Foundation in Monrovia, California, has announced grants totaling more than $24.7 million for pediatric cancer research.

The summer 2014 grants include $7.5 million to the Children's Oncology Group in support of collaborative research among its ninety member institutions. The largest grant ever awarded by the foundation boosted its support of COG to more than $53 million since 2005. In addition, St. Baldrick’s awarded grants in support of international and domestic scholars, fellowships, research, and groups outside the U.S.

The foundation also announced its inaugural St. Baldrick's Genius Awards, an annual program that will provide funding to international federations in support of projects involving real-time precision medicine for patients fighting acute myeloid leukemia, an aggressive blood cancer. The four inaugural recipients — Phoenix Children's Hospital, Oregon Health and Science University, Sage Bionetworks, and Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center — are members of the Seattle-based AML Federation Project, a St. Baldrick's-supported research project.

"We cannot thank our donors, volunteers, and partners enough for making these grants possible," said St. Baldrick's Foundation CEO Kathleen Ruddy. "At a time when the pharmaceutical industry is effectively uninvolved in childhood cancer research and when federal funding for pediatric cancer research is at a record low, St. Baldrick's supporters have stepped up to help ensure that critical pediatric cancer research continues and kids have access to clinical trials. Our goal is that all of our grants will have a positive impact on the kids battling cancer and continue to move us closer to our mission of finding cures for all forms of childhood cancers."