FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 5, 2025
Contact: Eileen Teves, 210-450-7239, tevese@uthscsa.edu
MEDIA ADVISORY
UT Health San Antonio gears up to drive out childhood cancer
Receives grant from Hyundai Hope on Wheels® to continue its fight against the disease
WHAT: In the United States, 43 children are diagnosed with cancer every day. To help in the fight against childhood cancer, Hyundai Hope on Wheels® will present the Hyundai Impact Grant Award for $100,000 to Gail Tomlinson, MD, PhD, Shafqat Shah, MD, and Debra Kent, DNP, MSN, APRN-PC, RN, for their nutrition education program called Hope in Every Bite. The program aims to improve the lives of patients and their families by highlighting the role of nutrition in prevention, treatment and survivorship.
The support of Hyundai Hope on Wheels® helps the team reach their goal of educating and promoting healthy habits and improve the overall outcomes of pediatric cancer survivors.
After the check presentation, children affected by cancer will join their families and participate in a Handprint Ceremony. They will dip their hands in finger paint and place their handprints on a new Hyundai SUV. The ceremony represents the many hands involved in the fight against pediatric cancer. Patients, researchers, doctors, parents, supporters and more have a part in the fight.
WHEN: Thursday, August 7, 10 a.m.
WHERE: Greehey Children’s Cancer Research Institute at The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio (UT Health San Antonio), 8403 Floyd Curl Drive, San Antonio, Texas 78229
WHO: Children affected by cancer and their families, and Hyundai Motor America representatives
Hyundai Impact Grant Award recipients:
- Gail Tomlinson, MD, PhD, professor of pediatrics and division chief of pediatric hematology-oncology in the Department of Pediatrics at UT Health San Antonio.
- Shafqat Shah, MD, professor of pediatric hematology-oncology with expertise in neuro-oncology and cancer survivorship, Mays Cancer Center at UT Health San Antonio
- Debra Kent, DNP, MSN, APRN-PC, RN, associate professor, pediatric nurse practitioner and director of the adult survivorship program, Mays Cancer Center at UT Health San Antonio.
NOTES: Since 1998, Hyundai Hope on Wheels® has been on a quest to end childhood cancer and has become one of the nation’s leading funders of pediatric cancer research.
With the latest grants, UT Health San Antonio has received more than $2.1 million in total grants since 2007 from Hyundai Hope on Wheels®.
The check presentation and Handprint Ceremony are significant events leading up to Childhood Cancer Awareness Month in September. It’s a time dedicated to increasing awareness of pediatric cancer and raising funds for research. Pediatric cancer is the leading cause of death by disease for children under the age of 14. Worldwide, about 400,000 children and adolescents develop cancer each year, only half of whom are diagnosed.
Since February 2004, Greehey Children’s Cancer Research Institute has been dedicated to pediatric cancer research. Its 20 laboratories focus on their strengths on cancer genomics, DNA repair, RNA biology and drug development in finding more effective and less toxic treatments for childhood cancers.
The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio (UT Health San Antonio) is one of the country’s leading health science and research universities. With missions of teaching, research and patient care, its schools of medicine, nursing, dentistry, health professions, graduate biomedical sciences and public health have graduated more than 45,000 alumni who are leading change, advancing their fields and renewing hope for patients and their families throughout South Texas and the world. To learn about the many ways “We make lives better®,” visit UTHealthSA.org.
The Mays Cancer Center at UT Health San Antonio is one of only four National Cancer Institute-designated Cancer Centers in Texas. The Mays Cancer Center provides leading-edge cancer care, propels innovative cancer research and educates the next generation of leaders to end cancer in South Texas. In 2017, Mays Cancer Center became one of a select few centers in the nation to partner with MD Anderson Cancer Center, expanding access to cancer treatments that are among the most advanced in the nation–close to home. To learn more, visit https://cancer.uthscsa.edu.
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