JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – 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.
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, because childhood cancers make up only 6% of cancers.
To tackle these issues, Florida created the Cancer Connect Collaborative Research Incubator Program 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
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Currently, the focus is on childhood cancers, and the governor announced a total of $30 million toward the effort, 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 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.”
A representative from Wolfson Children’s Hospital 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.
They said this research is a crucial step to making sure families in Florida won’t have to travel out of state for treatment after a pediatric cancer diagnosis.