Hyundai Hope On Wheels presented a $400,000 Scholar Hope Grant to Dr. David Munn at the Wellstar Children’s Hospital of Georgia on August 20. The funding will support childhood cancer research led by Munn, who is affiliated with the Georgia Cancer Center at Augusta University.
“We really rely on people like Hyundai who understand the need and give hope to these kids,” said Munn, a professor of pediatric oncology for the Medical College of Georgia at Augusta University and co-director of the Pediatric Immunotherapy Program, which has developed several first-in-the-nation clinical trials for patients at Wellstar Children’s Hospital of Georgia.
The grant aims to further Munn’s work in enhancing children’s immune systems so that immunotherapy drugs effective in adults can also be used against tumors in children.
“Recurrent or treatment-resistant pediatric brain tumors represent the largest single cause of cancer deaths in children,” said Munn. “The Pediatric Immunotherapy Program at the Children’s Hospital of Georgia has a decade of innovative research and clinical trials that combine activation of the body’s own immune system to create synergy with conventional chemotherapy, for treatment of children with recurrent brain tumors.”
Munn is investigating whether combining specialized immune activation with standard chemotherapy could reprogram a child’s immune system. This approach may allow children to respond to checkpoint-blockade agents—drugs that have shown success in adult cancers but have not been effective against childhood tumors.
According to data from the American Cancer Society, about 4,000 brain and spinal cord tumors are diagnosed each year among children and adolescents in the United States.
“Without philanthropic funding, there’s little funding out there for these kinds of studies,” Munn said. “These children and their families appreciate that someone is working on their disease.”
In 2024, Hyundai Hope On Wheels awarded another $400,000 Scholar Hope Grant to Theodore Johnson, MD, PhD, co-director of the Pediatric Immunotherapy Program and pediatric oncologist at Wellstar Children’s Hospital. Since 2011, Hyundai Hope On Wheels has contributed over $1.5 million to Augusta University and its Georgia Cancer Center for pediatric immunotherapy research.
Hyundai Hope On Wheels is one of the largest nonprofit funders for pediatric cancer research in the United States. The organization provides grants nationwide to institutions working on improving treatments for childhood cancer patients. Its primary funding comes from Hyundai Motor America and more than 830 U.S. dealers.
