News & Updates

Both of my sisters had childhood cancer when I was growing up so I spent more time than most thinking about the impact of cancer on families and wanting to invest my energies in improving outcomes for such children.

Why did you want to get into pediatric cancer research? Because pediatric cancer research is very focused on cures, not merely on extending survival.

I can still remember my excitement when I discovered research involving humans (rather than the study of animals and plants) when I was an undergraduate in the UK. I immediately wanted to become involved in human research and studied immunology and virology.

Thanks to Cookies’ funding, we discovered drugs that work well against “RAS” mutations, which led to Novartis supporting a clinical trial that is ongoing. 

I thought I wanted to be a Pediatric Cardiologist, but when I was doing my clinical rotations as a medical student, I just fell in love with the oncology patients. I wanted to do everything I could to help them and their families.

Form the dough into tablespoon-size balls and place about 2 inches apart on the prepared cookie sheets. Transfer to the oven and bake until the edge of the cookies just begin to brown, about 15 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack and repeat with the remaining dough.

We have developed a cancer therapy that uses natural killer (NK) cells, a type of white blood cell with excellent tumor killing capacity and a unique ability to distinguish normal tissues in the body. The NK cells safely target both the tumor environment and sarcoma-associated proteins in a special way that allows them to destroy cancer but leave normal tissues alone. We will test the ability of these NK cells to kill tumors safely in laboratory models, and then make preparations to test safety and effectiveness in kids with sarcoma.

Chef Dan Kluger, chef/owner of the popular New York City restaurant Loring Place and Cookies for Kids’ Cancer board member, has been a part of our team since the beginning. He also is one of the founders of our annual Chefs for Kids’ Cancer gala which had to be postponed this year because of Covid-19. We caught up with Chef Dan for an update on what he has been up to and some insider tips for the upcoming grilling season.

From the All the Good Cookies cookbook, pg. 61 Yield: 5 Dozen Cookies 1 stick (1/4 pound) unsalted butter, at

We can’t thank you enough for your generous support of pediatric cancer research.  It has been essential to the success of our work and that of so many other researchers. Now, more than ever, we cannot lose sight of the fact that cancer is the leading cause of death from disease in school-age children in the U.S.  We need to continue in our fight against these terrible diseases.

Liam, who was the original #GoodCookie and our founder Gretchen’s son, would be turning 16 today! And there’s no doubt he would have been the first in line at the DMV, waiting to take the driving test to get his license. Not a day goes by that Liam isn’t on our minds. We know the work we’re doing in his honor is exactly what he would want and expect from us. And so today, we asked a few people — from his nurses and teachers to his best friend — for their memories of Liam, their ideas of what he would have been up to on this special day and how he remains such a vibrant part of their lives 10 years later.

I was drawn to pediatric oncology for two reasons.  First, the connection that we have with our patients and families is like no other specialty I saw during my training.  Second, the tremendous opportunities for making advances through clinical trials was incredibly appealing.