Dr. Gurcharanjeet Kaur Awarded $300,000 Grant for Development of New Therapies for Neurofibromatosis Type 1

We are thrilled to announce that Dr. Gurcharanjeet Kaur—director of the Neurofibromatosis Program at NYP/CUIMC, which is one of only two Children’s Tumor Foundation-designated Comprehensive Neurofibromatosis Clinics in New York—has been awarded a two-year, $300,000 grant to lead an innovative phase 1 study titled: “Examining the Use of Non-Invasive Focused Ultrasound (FUS) with Oral Selumetinib in Children with Inoperable Plexiform Neurofibroma.” This pioneering research explores whether focused ultrasound can temporarily open the blood-nerve barrier, enhancing local delivery of selumetinib—an FDA-approved therapy—and potentially reducing toxicity while improving quality of life. This is the first study to test FUS in this context and represents a major step forward in targeted, non-invasive treatment strategies for Neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1).