Millions in funding unveiled for Australia’s best cancer research innovations

The Australian Cancer Research Foundation (ACRF) has announced the recipients of their annual Cancer Research Grants, collectively awarding $8.4m towards the newest innovations in Australian cancer research.

In its quest to beat cancer, the ACRF has awarded almost $95m to Australian cancer research institutes, making it the largest private funding body for cancer research in Australia.

The esteemed grant winners for 2013 include:

• QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute: $2.6 million to develop an ACRF Centre for Comprehensive Biomedical Imaging
• Children’s Medical Research Institute: $2 million to facilitate an internationally unique consortium of telomere research groups to better understand the differences in telomere biology between normal and cancerous cells
• South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute: $1.8 million to develop a translational research facility which will fast-track basic biomedical research discoveries into novel cancer therapies
• Victorian Comprehensive Cancer Centre: $2 million to create a facility that can undertake, in a translational research setting, complex analysis of proteins and phospho-proteins from human tissue samples, informing pre-clinical cancer drug development and clinical trials

Each year, the ACRF provides major grants to research bodies enabling them to purchase state-of-the-art technologies and equipment, the scope of which have the potential to make significant discoveries in the understanding and management of cancer.

CEO of the ACRF, David Brettell says “Never before have we seen so many world-class proposals for cancer research, with applications for our grants this year totaling almost $50 million. We’re proud to be the largest private funding body of cancer research in Australia, however much more is needed so we can support our country’s best researchers in achieving their visionary ideas, and significantly accelerating the speed at which discoveries can be made.

“As a privately funded charity dedicated to beating cancer, our grants are only made possible by the generous donations of thousands of individuals, families and companies who share a passion and dedication for funding world-class research in Australia. Our vision is to raise more money in the future to provide for all worthy grant applicants.”

The ACRF has a proud history of supporting cancer research, and implementing tangible research tools to better diagnose, treat and, ultimate, defeat cancer. For example, in 1999 a grant was awarded to Professor Ian Frazer AC to assist his research into the Human Papillomavirus and the cervical cancer vaccine.

All grant applications are reviewed by the Medical Research Advisory Committee, comprising of esteemed, independent Australian cancer scientists, and Chaired by previous ACRF grant recipient, Professor Ian Frazer AC himself.

Representatives of the winning research teams, as well as a number of Australia’s leading cancer research experts (Professor Adele Green AC, Professor Simon Foote, and Professor Richard Kefford AM) will be available on Wednesday 13 November for interviews.

For more information about the ACRF’s Cancer Research Grants, please visit:

https://acrf.com.au/cancer-research-grants/