Institute researchers shortlisted for Cancer Grand Challenges funding

Professor Richard Gilbertson, Dr John Marioni and Dr Giulia Biffi are part of two diverse global teams of scientists, both selected for the final stages of Cancer Grand Challenges – and now are in with a chance of securing a share of £80 million of funding to take on cancer’s toughest problems.

Nearly 170 teams submitted ideas for this round of awards, from which 11 teams have been shortlisted. They will now receive seed-funding to draft their full research proposal and compete for a £20m Cancer Grand Challenges award, which would provide the scientific freedom to come together and think differently in pursuit of solving one of cancer’s toughest challenges. Up to four winning teams will be announced early 2022.

Virtual Child

Professor Stefan Pfister, DKFZ, and Professor Richard Gilbertson will co-lead the Virtual Child team, with Dr John Marioni joining the team. If successful, the Virtual Child team would seek to tackle the challenge of solid tumours in children. We’re beginning to understand that solid tumours in children are very different from those in adults – if we could understand more about these differences and find new ways to target them, we could create new ways to better treat children’s cancers.

“Having studied children’s brain tumours for 30 years, we never dreamed we’d be in with a chance to totally change the field,” say joint team leads Gilbertson and Pfister.

CANCAN

Dr Giulia Biffi joins the CANCAN team, led by Dr Eileen White at the Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey. If successful, the CANCAN team would seek to tackle the challenge of cachexia, an extreme wasting condition often experienced in the late stages of cancer. A deeper understanding of how and why people’s health deteriorates in this way could lead to new treatments and vastly improve quality of life and survival for people with late-stage cancer.

“We are thrilled to have the opportunity to coalesce our group of investigators and bring new ideas and approaches to this critical unmet medical need,” says White, CANCAN team lead.

“This round of Cancer Grand Challenges has demonstrated the fresh thinking that can be sparked when global teams unite across disciplines to bring new perspectives to tough challenges,” says Dr David Scott, director of Cancer Grand Challenges. “We were thrilled to receive such a strong response from the global research community.”