Kiona Foundation Inc. · 501(c)(3) Public Charity
United for Hope, Advancing Cures
Kiona Foundation is a public charity pursuing pharmacognosy, botanical drug discovery and endogenous cannabinoid system research, alongside cancer awareness, practical family support and remembrance. Our mission reaches people and families across the lifespan. Read the current research status to distinguish the prepared protocol from approval, enrollment and results.
One Ribbon, One Movement
Childhood Cancer Awareness Month begins September 1. See the whole child, learn about the Foundation's response, and support the live campaign.
Start here
Follow the part of the Foundation's work that brought you here.
Our mission
Based in New York City, Kiona Foundation Inc. is a 501(c)(3) public charity advancing pharmacognosy, the study of medicines derived from natural sources, as the foundation for novel botanical drug discovery.
Kiona Foundation was founded in 2003 in honor of Kiona T. Jenkins. The loss of Dr. Lakisha Jenkins-Samuels' sister, Merika, in 2018 further shaped a mission that reaches beyond any one age group. Kiona's sister, Carlene O.J. Samuels, was born in 2020, nearly twenty years after the Foundation began, and her life expanded the legacy the Foundation now carries forward. We advance research and pursue better options for people and families affected by cancer across the lifespan.
Cancer research and charitable work across the lifespan.
Childhood Cancer Awareness Month through One Ribbon, One Movement.
Every Ribbon Has a Name, honoring children lost to cancer.
Foundation research
The Foundation's research protocol examines endogenous cannabinoid system deficiency across general, clinical, and medically authorized adult and pediatric populations.
The Foundation's protocol record reports approval in September 2024. That historical record does not establish current approval. Independent IRB reconstitution remains a structural step before the next submission. We are not announcing enrollment, recruitment, intervention availability or results. Institutional assurance and registration identifiers below are not clinical-trial registration or evidence of treatment effectiveness.
Programs
The Foundation's programs extend the work into research infrastructure, practical technology, donor support, and remembrance while keeping each purpose clear.
Initiative
A unified research, cultivation, processing, and clinical campus planned for Wayne County, with industrial hemp and medical Cannabis research carried on distinct tracks. The project is rooted in Finger Lakes agricultural history and the long work of building research infrastructure that can serve the region.
Family support program
Gold Ribbon Tech is an active Foundation program receiving donated computer hardware and coordinating refurbishment and responsible placement for pediatric cancer families and caregivers. Active intake does not establish completed placement. Acceptance and availability require direct written coordination; a device is not guaranteed.
Donor recognition
The Foundation's permanent, opt-in recognition program for cumulative calendar-year giving of one thousand dollars or more.
Permanent memorial
A digital place where children lost to childhood cancer are remembered by name, photograph, and the words their families choose to carry forward.
Research and updates
The Blog offers educational interpretation of botanical science and support during cancer, with study limitations made explicit. News links to primary reporting and source documents. Neither section should be read as Foundation clinical-trial results.
Read about botanical drug-discovery questions, Cannabis and the endocannabinoid system, and emotional support during cancer. The articles distinguish experimental models from evidence in patients.
Read the July 8 WHO news release, watch the UNifeed video, and open the complete source report.
One Ribbon, One Movement
One Ribbon, One Movement is Kiona Foundation's single September childhood cancer awareness campaign.
For bereaved parents
Paralunae, on Dr. Lakisha's personal website, offers the Declaration, a free Orientation for the first days after a child dies, and support resources. It is separate from the Foundation's programs and does not require a donation.
Visit Paralunae on drlakisha.com
Not an emergency or clinical service. Immediate danger: contact local emergency services. In the US, call or text 988, or use Lifeline chat. Elsewhere: Find A Helpline.
