Paving the Way for the Future of Pediatric Medicine
The Children’s Brain Tumor Network (CBTN), a program of the Center for Data Driven Discovery in Biomedicine (D³b), has reached a major milestone in its partnership with Day One Biopharmaceuticals. This collaboration is designed to accelerate the understanding and treatment of pediatric low-grade gliomas (pLGG) with BRAF alterations—a type of genetic mutation linked to uncontrolled cell growth and cancer development. By combining the robust CBTN data ecosystem with Day One’s expertise, this project aims to accelerate the development of new therapies and enhance outcomes for young patients.
A New Model for Drug Development
This partnership marks a new and impactful model for pharmaceutical collaboration, where CBTN provides high-quality clinical data to inform the development of new drugs. The initial phase of the project, which involved data from 50 patients, was completed in April 2025, laying the groundwork for a larger effort and establishing a common language and workflow between the organizations. The second phase expanded the dataset to include an additional 150 subjects with BRAF-altered pLGG, further developing scalable workflows across CBTN partner institutions. The goal is to generate real-world insights that support scholarly research, clinical trials, and regulatory submissions.
This project exemplifies the dedication of the D³b teams, including the Biospecimen and Clinical Research Unit (BCRU) and the Advanced Data Applications and Platform Technologies (ADAPT) Unit.
“The first dataset delivered by CBTN is an important foundation of a promising collaboration,” said Davy Chiodin, Chief Development Officer of Day One Biopharmaceuticals.
This success highlights the caliber of work and commitment to data integrity within the D³b center.
Why This Matters for Pediatric Cancer Patients
The collaboration leverages the network’s ability to collect and integrate high-quality clinical, molecular, and imaging data with the consent of pediatric and young adult patients with brain tumors. This approach provides a rich, real-world data set that can help identify new therapeutic strategies without the need for time-consuming subject enrollment and protocol development.
Tatiana Patton, Director of Research Programs and Project Management at the D3b, emphasized that this partnership enables pharmaceutical companies to “shop” for specific genetic traits, allowing for the design of more precise clinical trials with a better chance of success. “This precision is critical because pediatric brain tumors can be rare, making it difficult to find effective therapies.” Tatiana shared.
The real-world data and precision genetic information collected will help scientists better understand how these tumors behave and respond to treatment, leading to more targeted and effective therapies.
The Long-Term Impact
This groundbreaking collaboration isn’t just about a single project; it’s about building a sustainable system for innovation that will benefit future generations. Findings from this research will be shared with the broader research community through publications and presentations, ensuring this new knowledge contributes to the effort to find cures.
The partnership helps accelerate the discovery of new therapies by providing a comprehensive resource for BRAF-altered brain tumors. By analyzing a vast dataset, researchers can identify patterns and potential targets for treatment more quickly than ever before. This focused approach could be a game-changer for a disease where time is of the essence.
In addition to inspiring future research projects, this first collaborative project establishes a structured and scalable workflow for data curation and imaging review, laying the groundwork for potential future cancer breakthroughs and collaborations. This streamlined process can be replicated for other types of cancer, creating a ripple effect of efficiency and innovation across the medical field. By standardizing these procedures, the partnership helps ensure that future research can build on a solid, reliable foundation.
This partnership brings hope to families and is a powerful example of how the organization’s mission to accelerate cures for children with brain tumors is realized through trusted collaborations with business partners and robust data stewardship.