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Accelerate
Why philanthropic giving?
Philanthropic contributions are essential to accelerate progress and improve outcomes for those diagnosed with cancer. By backing brilliant cancer research through ACRF Accelerate, you are funding entire programs of pioneering cancer research.
What is ACRF Accelerate?
ACRF Accelerate is our structured philanthropic initiative. ACRF Accelerate uses the generous support from people like yourself, willing to make a contribution of at least $5,000. You will be guided by a dedicated relationship manager to back significant life-saving cancer research projects within Australia.
What we fund
Researchers tell us that it’s the technology that drives the innovations and breakthroughs in cancer research. Since 1984, we have provided $204 million to 90 projects within 44 organisations through the generosity of all our supporters working together towards a world without cancer.
The ACRF Medical Research Advisory Committee comprises world-renowned scientists and clinicians who ensure only the most deserving of projects are funded. Ultimately this gives you comfort that your donation will result in real, measurable benefits for those diagnosed with or at risk of cancer.
Customised experience and involvement
With a minimum contribution of $5,000 you can select which program to pledge your support to, or you can share your contribution across all projects through ‘untied funding’, in a bespoke approach that best aligns with your wishes.
We’ll keep you informed of progress, but you may want to go a little deeper in your understanding of the research by attending special events and tours. Your dedicated relationship manager will tailor your preferences in line with your wishes.
Societal
Those impacted as a result of the cancer diagnosis of a loved one, or someone within their network, and, more broadly, society in general.
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Leverage
Additional benefits from other organisations as a result of ACRF’s financial involvement.
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Intellectual
New research, creation of jobs in the medical and scientific fields, and contribution to the broader economy.
Human
Those directly impacted as a result of a cancer diagnosis.
Our unique impact model
Societal
Leverage
Intellectual
Human
Our philanthropic projects for 2025
ACRF Centre of Advanced Imaging-Guided Cancer Therapeutics
Overview
The ACRF Centre for Advanced Imaging-Guided Cancer Therapeutics will spearhead installation of a world-first next-generation Total Body PET/CT, representing a major advance in human scanning, enabling accelerated development of cancer imaging and therapeutics to support prevention, early detection and advanced cancer research programs.
To be installed in 2025, this will be the first GE Healthcare Total Body PET installation in Australia (and likely globally) one year ahead of global commercial availability. This commitment from GE Healthcare represents an unprecedented opportunity for cancer research in Australia, highlighting the outstanding track record of the team that will take full advantage of this novel platform.
The ACRF Centre for Advanced Imaging-Guided Cancer Therapeutics will spearhead installation of a world-first next-generation Total Body PET/CT, representing a major advance in human scanning, enabling accelerated development of cancer imaging and therapeutics to support prevention, early detection and advanced cancer research programs.
Projected impact
Human
- In 2024 it is estimated 169,500 Australians will be diagnosed with cancer and 53,000 will die. Total body imaging using PET/CT provides superior sensitivity and resolution when combined with theranostics and is set to revolutionise cancer treatment and improve the outcomes for people with cancer. The equipment available in the ACRF Centre for Advanced Imaging-Guided Cancer Therapeutics will ensure that Australia is at the forefront of these advances.
- Theranostics has proven to be an effective approach for the treatment of solid tumours such as breast and prostate. In the case of prostate cancer even better outcomes have resulted using whole body scanning to select those patients most likely to benefit. Research undertaken in the ACRF Centre for Advanced Imaging-Guided Cancer Therapeutics will accelerate and expand the application of theranostics and whole-body scanning to other cancers so that a greater number of people can benefit.
Leverage
- Over the last five years, the research team have secured over $100 million in competitive grant funding. The investment in the ACRF Centre for Advanced Imaging-Guided Cancer Therapeutics would significantly strengthen future grant applications and secure additional funding.
- Of the $78B net present gains generated by medical research from 1990 to 2004, $52B was in the form of health gains and $26B in wider economic gains. Extrapolating these figures, the $10M invested by the ACRF has a potential return of $39M - $26M in the form of health gains and $13M in the form of wider economic gains.
- Additional funding totalling $9M will be provided by collaborating organisations including the National Imaging Facility and GE. A further $1.8M will be provided through ACRF’s funding partners further including the Cancer Institute NSW and Ovarian Cancer Research Foundation.
Societal
- The ACRF Centre for Advanced Imaging-Guided Cancer Therapeutics has the potential to reduce the burden on caregivers who, when considering time spent caregiving for loved ones, work absenteeism and presenteeism, experience a 23% work productivity loss because of caregiving. Based on the average Australian wage and taking into consideration the labour force participation and unemployment rate, this accounts for an annual productivity loss of $14,467 per caregiver annually.
- Almost half of Australian adults of working age with cancer are not in the workforce –resulting in a reduction of GDP of around $1.7 Bn. Improved disease management and more effective treatments that will be developed in the ACRF Centre for Advanced Imaging-Guided Cancer Therapeutics has the potential to improve the quality of life for people with cancer including their employment potential.
Intellectual
- Jobs in medical research are high value and knowledge-based jobs that contribute substantially to the economy. The core team alone has the potential to generate significant value added gain.
- One of the most important outputs of the ACRF Centre for Advanced Imaging-Guided Cancer Therapeutics will be publications to inform future research. The $10M invested by ACRF alone has a potential return of 116 publications.
The ACRF Childhood Cancer Early Detection, Prevention and Treatment Program
Overview
Once a child’s tumour has progressed to metastatic disease, it is extremely challenging to achieve a durable and complete response. The simple truth is that if we are to prevent children from dying from cancer, we need to prevent them from progressing to that stage. This means we must get better at diagnosing and monitoring children who have a risk of developing cancer. We must detect cancer earlier. For those who present with cancer, we need to provide comprehensive, evidence-based treatment guidance at the earliest stages of disease to prevent disease progression. And for those who present with, or progress to high-risk disease, we need a new arsenal of therapies that target known drivers of childhood cancer, many of which are currently considered undruggable.
The ACRF Childhood Cancer Early Detection, Prevention and Treatment (ACCEPT) program will provide the underlying infrastructure, combining computational biology, high-throughput-compatible and physiologically relevant preclinical platforms, multifaceted functional assays, and scalable robotics to supercharge the translation of new data into clinical impact and patient benefit.
The ACRF Childhood Cancer Early Detection, Prevention and Treatment (ACCEPT) program will provide the underlying infrastructure, combining computational biology, high-throughput-compatible and physiologically relevant preclinical platforms, multifaceted functional assays, and scalable robotics to supercharge the translation of new data into clinical impact and patient benefit.
Projected impact
Human
- There has been significant progress in the treatment of paediatric cancers with more than 80% expected to survive into adulthood. Despite this, at least 60% of survivors develop chronic health conditions and up to 80% experience severe or life-threatening complications. The ACRF Centre Early Detection, Prevention and Treatment Program has the potential to transform the long-term outlook for childhood cancer survivors.
- Australian children with cancer now have access to a national precision medicine program (ZERO). The samples, tools and expertise from ZERO alongside locally developed novel technologies will be leveraged by the ACRF Childhood Cancer Centre Early Detection, Prevention and Treatment Program to improve diagnostic tests, guide treatments and develop new drugs and provide a unique opportunity for all children diagnosed with cancer in Australia.
Leverage
- Over the last five years the research team have secured over $135 million in competitive grant funding. The investment in the ACRF Childhood Cancer Centre Early Detection, Prevention and Treatment Program would significantly strengthen future grant applications and secure additional funding.
- Of the $78Bn net present gains generated by medical research from 1990 to 2004, $52Bn was in the form of health gains and $26Bn in wider economic gains5. Extrapolating these figures, the $5M invested by the ACRF Childhood Cancer Centre Early Detection, Prevention and Treatment Program has a potential return of $19.5M - $13M in the form of health gains and $6.5M in the form of wider economic gains.
- Additional funding totalling $2.8 million will be provided by the University of New South Wales ($2.5 million) and the Cancer Institute NSW ($500,000) to support the development of the ACRF Childhood Cancer Centre Early Detection, Prevention and Treatment Program.
Societal
- Adult survivors of childhood cancers are more likely to be in poorer health, need assistance with personal care and routine needs, have work limitations, be unable to work because of health, miss more days of work, and have greater household productivity. The annual productivity loss for adult survivors of childhood cancer is estimated to be $12,000 per person compared with $4,800 per person for individuals without a history of cancer1 The ACRF Childhood Cancer Centre Early Detection, Prevention and Treatment Program has the potential to greatly enhance the long-term outcomes for childhood cancer survivors thereby reducing productivity losses.
- The ACRF Childhood Cancer Centre Early Detection, Prevention and Treatment Program has the potential to reduce the burden on caregivers who, when considering time spent caregiving for loved ones, work absenteeism and presenteeism, experience a 23% work productivity loss because of caregiving. Based on the average Australian wage and taking into consideration the labour force participation and unemployment rate, this accounts for an annual productivity loss of $14,467 per caregiver annually.
Intellectual
- Jobs in medical research are high value, knowledge-based jobs that contribute substantially to the economy. The core team alone (excluding the CI’s) has the potential to generate $375,200 in value added gain.
- One of the most important outputs of the ACRF Childhood Cancer Centre Early Detection, Prevention and Treatment Program will be publications to inform future research. The $5M invested by ACRF alone has a potential return of 58 publications.
ACRF Centre for Cellular Imaging of Precision Immunotherapy
Overview
This unique, tightly integrated collaborative program will bring together tumour immunologists from the largest such program in Australia, clinicians leading international immunotherapy trials and experts in biochemistry and cellular imaging all working together under the same roof. This collaboration will enable the study of immunotherapy of cancer at multiple scales – from single molecules to single cells and various tissue preparations, from biospecimens derived from the 1000s of cancer patients undergoing immunotherapy at Peter Mac per year. Through tightly entwined discovery and clinical research programs, they will generate a deeper understanding of the mechanisms of resistance to immunotherapy and develop a pipeline using patient-derived/humanised models that will predict and enhance patient response to treatment.
This unique, tightly integrated collaborative program will bring together tumour immunologists from the largest such program in Australia, clinicians leading international immunotherapy trials and experts in biochemistry and cellular imaging all working together under the same roof. This collaboration will enable the study of immunotherapy of cancer at multiple scales.
Projected impact
Human
- In 2024, it was estimated 169,500 Australians will be diagnosed with cancer and 53,000 will die. Immunotherapy has revolutionised cancer treatment and has already changed the management of certain cancers including melanoma, lung and breast. The predictive approach that will be developed in the ACRF Centre For Cellular Imaging of Precision Immunotherapy will lead to better outcomes for those who will respond to immunotherapy and avoid severe side effects for those people who don’t.
- Immune checkpoint inhibitors, the most widely used immunotherapy, is now an option for over 40% of people with cancer but may only be effective in around 12.5% of cancer patients. Research conducted in the ACRF Centre For Cellular Imaging of Precision Immunotherapy will develop a rapid and efficient way to identify who is likely to respond to immunotherapy and increase the potential of this treatment.
Leverage
- Over the last five years the research team have secured over $75 million in competitive grant funding. The investment in the ACRF Centre For Cellular Imaging of Precision Immunotherapy would significantly strengthen future grant applications and secure additional funding.
- Of the $78B net present gains generated by medical research from 1990 to 2004, $52B was in the form of health gains and $26B in wider economic gains. Extrapolating these figures, the $4.5M invested by the ACRF has a potential return of $17.5M - $11.7M in the form of health gains and $5.8M in the form of wider economic gains.
- Close to $4 M of in-kind funding is being provided by PMCC for technical and operational support, data storage and research infrastructure.
Societal
- The ACRF Centre For Cellular Imaging of Precision Immunotherapy has the potential to reduce the burden on caregivers who, when considering time spent caregiving for loved ones, work absenteeism and presenteeism, experience a 23% work productivity loss because of caregiving. Based on the average Australian wage and taking into consideration the labour force participation and unemployment rate, this accounts for an annual productivity loss of $14,467 per caregiver annually.
- Immunotherapy often incurs great financial costs and potentially leading to severe side-effects in patients that may not achieve benefit. Understanding mechanisms of response and resistance will allow informed and individualised design of combination therapeutic strategies to expand the proportion of patients that respond to immunotherapy.
- Immunotherapy has been an effective treatment for certain cancers; however, it is not effective for everyone and can result in toxicity and complications – the increased use of immunotherapies has seen an increase in hospitalisations because of the severe side effects. Research undertaken in the ACRF Centre For Cellular Imaging of Precision Immunotherapy to predict which people will respond thereby reducing harmful side effects and hospitalisations.
Intellectual
- Jobs in medical research are high value, knowledge-based jobs that contribute substantially to the economy. The core team alone (excluding the CI’s) has the potential to generate $1.27M in value added gain.
- One of the most important outputs of the ACRF Centre For Cellular Imaging of Precision Immunotherapy will be publications to inform future research. The $4.5M invested by ACRF alone has a potential return of 52 publications.
The ACRF Centre for Dynamic Immuno-Oncology
Overview
In collaboration with leading experts in immunology, oncology, radiology, and artificial intelligence, the ACRF CDIO will substantially bypass the need for surrogate models, generating data directly from cancer patients to pioneer new ways of optimising immunotherapy. This approach will reshape cancer treatment by making it more effective and adaptable to the unique biology and immune ecosystem of each patient.
In collaboration with leading experts in immunology, oncology, radiology, and artificial intelligence, the ACRF CDIO will substantially bypass the need for surrogate models, generating data directly from cancer patients to pioneer new ways of optimising immunotherapy. This approach will reshape cancer treatment by making it more effective and adaptable to the unique biology and immune ecosystem of each patient.
Projected impact
Human
- In 2024 it is estimated 169,500 Australians will be diagnosed with cancer and 53,000 will die. The application of imaging technology to predict and monitor responses to immunotherapy is expected to rapidly increase over the next decade and will pave the way to improve outcomes for people with cancer.
- Immune checkpoint inhibitors, the most widely used immunotherapy, is now an option for over 40% of people with cancer but may only be effective in around 12.5% of cancer patients. Research conducted in the ACRF Centre for Dynamic Immuno-Oncology will develop a rapid and efficient way to identify who is likely to respond to immunotherapy and increase the potential of this treatment.
Leverage
- This research team have previously secured over $57 million in competitive grant funding. The investment in the ACRF Centre for Dynamic Immuno-Oncology would significantly strengthen future grant applications and secure additional funding.
- Of the $78B net present gains generated by medical research from 1990 to 2004, $52B was in the form of health gains and $26B in wider economic gains5. Extrapolating these figures, the $4.5M invested by the ACRF has a potential return of $17.5M - $11.7M in the form of health gains and $5.8M in the form of wider economic gains.
- Additional funding totalling $21.5 million to support the development of the ACRF Centre for Dynamic Immuno-Oncology has been secured. This includes $19 million from the Commonwealth and Victorian State Government.
Societal
- The ACRF Centre for Dynamic Immuno-Oncology has the potential to reduce the burden on caregivers who, when considering time spent caregiving for loved ones, work absenteeism and presenteeism, experience a 23% work productivity loss because of caregiving. Based on the average Australian wage and taking into consideration the labour force participation and unemployment rate, this accounts for an annual productivity loss of $14,467 per caregiver annually.
- Immunotherapy has been an effective treatment for certain cancers, but it is not effective for everyone and can result in toxicity and complications – the increased use of immunotherapies has seen an increase in hospitalisations because of the adverse effects8. Research undertaken in the ACRF Centre For Dynamic Immuno-Oncology to predict which people will respond thereby reducing harmful side effects and hospitalisations.
Intellectual
- Jobs in medical research are high value and knowledge-based jobs that contribute substantially to the economy. The core team alone has the potential to generate $1M in value added gain.
- One of the most important outputs of the ACRF Centre For Cellular Imaging of Precision Immunotherapy will be publications to inform future research. The $4.5M invested by ACRF alone has a potential return of 52 publications.
Discover the difference you can make
To find out more about ACRF Accelerate, download the full prospectus here.
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