Leaving Her Mark: Rubi Celebrates Hope at the Handprint Ceremony

Rubi joined Hyundai Hope on Wheels to honor her doctor and celebrate the research grant that will help kids facing childhood cancer

Rubi was 5 years old when she was diagnosed with T-cell lymphoblastic lymphoma, a rare and aggressive cancer. During her treatment at Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital Stanford, Rubi showed remarkable courage as she underwent repeated infusions and lifesaving procedures while coping with the severe side effects of chemotherapy.

Throughout her journey, Rubi refused to let cancer define her, and with the support of her care team, she was able to fulfill her dream of becoming a police officer during her time in the hospital.

“She would ride through the halls on her tricycle, rigged up with police lights and sirens. She would stop in front of the nurses’ station and hand out tickets,” recalls her mom, Sally. “Stanford allowed Officer Rubi to still take her job very seriously even while battling cancer in the hospital.”

Today, Rubi is 8 years old and cancer-free, and this September during Childhood Cancer Awareness Month, she shared her story to inspire other children and families.

During the Hyundai Hope on Wheels Handprint Ceremony and Check Presentation at Packard Children’s Hospital, Rubi proudly added her colorful handprints to a Hyundai vehicle. The tradition symbolizes hope, perseverance, and the progress being made in the fight against childhood cancer.

The event also recognized Rubi’s pediatric oncologist, Adrienne Long, MD, PhD, who received a $300,000 Young Investigator Grant from Hyundai Hope on Wheels to advance her research into childhood cancer.

Dr. Long will use the grant to continue studying how immunotherapies affect the developing immune systems of children with cancer. Her research focuses on blinatumomab, an immunotherapy used to treat some children with newly diagnosed B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia, a fast-growing cancer of the blood and bone marrow.

Although blinatumomab has been shown to improve outcomes for certain patients, the treatment has also been associated with higher rates of serious infections. By examining how it affects normal immune function, Dr. Long hopes to identify principles that can guide the safer use of immunotherapies across childhood cancers.

For families like Rubi’s, new discoveries and treatments represent hope for children diagnosed with cancer.

“Immunotherapies have really transformed how we think about treating pediatric blood cancers,” said Dr. Long. “Most children with leukemia or lymphoma will be receiving some form of immunotherapy in the future. Now is the time to understand how these critically important therapies impact a child’s native immune system, so we can minimize the risk of long-term side effects.”

This year’s award marks the third time Dr. Long has received a Hyundai Hope on Wheels Young Investigator Grant. To date, Packard Children’s Hospital has received nearly $6.1 million from Hyundai Hope on Wheels for pediatric cancer research.

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