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ACRF BRAIINSTORM Program

Research institute
Walter & Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research, VIC
Amount Granted
$2.5 million
Year Granted
2025
Cancer Targeted
Brain Cancer
Research Area
Treatment

$2.5 million awarded to Walter & Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research in Victoria to establish the ACRF BRAIINSTORM Program.

The ACRF BRAIINSTORM program is a landmark Australian initiative to accelerate the development of new therapies for an aggressive and lethal form of brain cancer: High-Grade Gliomas.

Brain cancers remain the leading cause of childhood cancer death in Australia, and DIPG is the deadliest tumour type. In adults, it is glioblastoma, which claims 65% of all brain cancer deaths and still has no effective long-term treatment. Survival rates for both remain heartbreakingly low.

BRAIINSTORM stands for Bringing AI and Immunotherapy for Neuro-oncology together, using Screening, Therapies and Omics-based Research Models.  

ACRF BRAIINSTORM will establish an end-to-end translational pipeline to accelerate the development of innovative therapies for brain cancers. A new, dedicated clean room for agile, point-of-care cell therapy manufacturing, will enable affordable and timely delivery of novel treatments to Australian brain cancer patients.  

This could improve patient outcomes for this notoriously difficult-to-treat cancer, through the development of personalised drugs and cell therapies, from discovery to first-time-in-human clinical trials.