Senate Majority Floor Leader Max Wise, R-Campbellsville, shared Kentucky’s approach to childhood cancer research with an international audience Wednesday, highlighting a decade of legislative action that has turned family advocacy into sustained state investment, expanded research and new opportunities for children facing cancer.

Wise spoke at the Childhood Cancer International Annual Conference in San Antonio, held in conjunction with the International Society of Paediatric Oncology Congress. The conference brings together childhood cancer survivors, parents, advocates, health care professionals and organizations from around the world to share strategies for improving outcomes for children and adolescents with cancer.

For Wise, the issue reaches far beyond his role in the legislature. His son is a long-term survivor of stage IV neuroblastoma, an experience that has shaped Wise’s work on childhood cancer policy throughout his Senate service.

“When a doctor tells you your child has cancer, everything else in life gets very small very quickly,” Wise said. “Our family knows the fear that comes with that diagnosis, but we also know what research, exceptional medical care and hope can mean. I have carried that experience with me every time we have worked on this issue in Frankfort.”

Wise sponsored Senate Bill 82 in 2015, establishing the Kentucky Pediatric Cancer Research Trust Fund. The fund provides a structure for supporting pediatric cancer research and treatment in Kentucky and is administered by a board established in state law.

What began with legislation has grown through sustained funding by the General Assembly. Kentucky first appropriated $5 million to the trust fund in 2018, followed by additional investments in subsequent years. The 2024 Legislative Session resulted in $14 million being allocated to the trust fund.

Wise and lawmakers continued that commitment in 2026, providing another $14 million over the 2026-28 biennium. House Bill 500 directs $5 million per fiscal year to general pediatric cancer research and to the expansion of clinical trials at the University of Kentucky (UK) and the University of Louisville (UofL). House Bill 900 provides an additional $2 million to the trust fund each fiscal year.

“Kentucky did not arrive here because of one bill, one budget or one person,” Wise said. “Parents who refused to accept the status quo came to Frankfort and made lawmakers understand what was at stake. Researchers showed us what was possible. My colleagues in the General Assembly continued investing because we could see that those dollars were building something meaningful.”

The results presented by Wise at the conference show how that commitment has yielded results.

The Kentucky Pediatric Cancer Research Trust Fund reports supporting 63 research projects, including psychosocial research, and seven family support projects. The presentation also cites $4 million in federal grants awarded to Kentucky, development of clinical-grade CAR-T immunotherapy, a multicenter Phase 1 medulloblastoma trial and efforts to recruit leading pediatric cancer researchers and providers. Funded projects have resulted in 111 presentations and publications, according to the conference presentation.

One statewide project highlighted during the presentation brings together researchers at UK and UofL to study inherited cancer risk in young people. More than 260 patients have enrolled. The program uses genetic sequencing of more than 120 cancer-related genes, with positive findings reviewed to determine whether additional testing, preventive action or earlier detection may benefit affected family members.

The need remains significant.

Kentucky Cancer Registry data presented at the conference show 2,775 Kentucky children and adolescents were diagnosed with cancer from 2013 through 2022. The data also show Kentucky children had the fifth-highest cancer incidence rate compared with other states during the period examined.

“That is why this work cannot be measured only by what we have spent,” Wise said. “It has to be measured by what we are building, and that is stronger research, better treatment options, talented people choosing to do this work in Kentucky and, ultimately, more children getting the chance to grow up. If Kentucky’s experience can help another state build that same commitment, then it is worth sharing my story, and Kentucky's story.”

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Wise has served in the Kentucky Senate since 2015 and currently serves as Senate majority floor leader.