The Children’s Brain Tumor Project (CBTP) is a research initiative at Weill Cornell Medicine, led by world-renowned pediatric neurosurgeons and neuroscientists Dr. Jeffrey Greenfield and Dr. Mark Souweidane. The lab was founded by families personally impacted by a pediatric brain tumor diagnosis. We say our lab is “Powered by Families” because it was created through grassroots fundraising efforts — and it continues to thrive thanks to the generosity of individual donors and family-founded nonprofits committed to changing the future for children with brain cancer.
The CBTP is solely dedicated to researching rare and inoperable pediatric brain tumors — a group of diseases that has long been overlooked in both the scientific and clinical communities. Our mission is to ensure that every child has access to the most advanced, personalized, and minimally invasive treatment options — beginning with world-class neurosurgery and extending into precision medicine and cutting-edge drug delivery approaches.
The CBTP exists to improve outcomes for children with brain tumors by advancing research in:
At the heart of everything we do is one clear purpose: to bring hope to families facing the unimaginable — a diagnosis of a rare, sometimes inoperable, and often incurable pediatric brain tumor.
The Children’s Brain Tumor Project is more than a research lab — it’s a patient-centered clinical and scientific community. Our work thrives on the strong relationships between families, researchers, and clinicians.
Led by world-renowned pediatric neurosurgeons Dr. Jeffrey Greenfield and Dr. Mark Souweidane, the CBTP combines clinical excellence with research innovation. Every patient benefits from our integrated approach — with surgery, treatment planning, and clinical trial opportunities informed by our lab’s latest findings.
We collaborate closely with families to provide care that is as personal as it is pioneering, and these relationships often guide new research directions that would not exist without their insight and involvement.
Our lab integrates multiple scientific disciplines under one roof. This multi-directional approach allows us to study these diseases from every angle and develop new treatment strategies faster and more effectively.
Our research is guided by four interconnected pillars:
Precision Medicine – uncovering each tumor’s molecular fingerprint to guide individualized therapy
Drug Delivery – using technologies like convection-enhanced delivery to bypass the blood-brain barrier
Developmental Biology – understanding how these tumors originate and evolve in the developing brain
Immunotherapy – developing immune-based strategies tailored to pediatric tumors
Thanks to the passion of our founding families and generous nonprofit partners, we support research across a spectrum of rare pediatric brain tumors, including:
We also lead or contribute to vital initiatives such as:
The CBTP began with the courage and love of Elizabeth Minter’s family. During her illness, a circle of supporters came together to raise the funds needed to launch this research effort. That initiative — Elizabeth’s Hope — became the foundation of the lab, and since then, more than 40 other families have joined the cause. Our families are not just donors. They are partners in discovery, collaborators in strategy, and the driving force behind our growth. Many become part of our CBTP Family Council, a unique coalition that meets annually to receive research updates, exchange ideas, and build connections with one another and our team.
If you are interested in joining the Family Council, email info@childrensbraintumorproject.org.
For lab updates and more, visit CBTP’s dedicated website at childrensbraintumorproject.org
