Australian Brain Cancer Mission
The Australian Brain Cancer Mission is a $124 million fund that supports research into brain cancer treatments. It aims to double the survival rate of Australians living with brain cancer over the next 10 years.
What is the Australian Brain Cancer Mission?
The Australian Brain Cancer Mission supports research into brain cancer treatments. It will provide $124 million in research funding over the next 10 years.
Why is the Australian Brain Cancer Mission important?
Around 2000 Australians develop brain cancer every year. Over the last 30 years, the number of people surviving other types of cancers has steadily improved. However, the survival rate for brain cancer has stayed low, at around 22%.
There are more than 100 different types of brain cancer. We need more research to discover new treatments and improve survival.
What are the goals of the Australian Brain Cancer Mission?
The Australian Brain Cancer Mission aims to:
- double the survival rate of Australians living with brain cancer over the next 10 years
- improve quality of life for people with brain cancer
- give every patient (adult and child) a chance to join a clinical trial
- boost Australian research and build research capacity.
In the long term, the Mission aims to defeat brain cancer.
How will we meet these goals?
The Mission’s first steps towards these goals are to:
- support the ZERO Childhood Cancer initiative. This initiative makes sure all Australian children with high-risk brain cancer receive individual treatment for their particular tumour type (known as personalised medicine)
- improve access to international clinical trials through groups such as the Australia New Zealand Children's Haematology and Oncology Group (ANZCHOG) and the Cooperative Trials Group for Neuro-Oncology (COGNO)
- provide grants for new clinical trials, including joining international trials
- review existing national care standards, decision support and clinical pathways for patients
- determine if existing brain cancer research platforms and technologies are meeting researchers’ needs
See the initiative snapshot for details of how we plan to meet these goals.
MRFF snapshot – Australian Brain Cancer Mission
This snapshot shows this mission at a glance. It includes budgets, early funding priorities and grant timelines, as of November 2019. Researchers and other stakeholders can use it to plan for upcoming opportunities and see how the mission will be established, expanded and embedded over time.
Who works with us on the Australian Brain Cancer Mission?
A Strategic Advisory Group advises government on the priorities for the Mission.
Cancer Australia manages the Strategic Advisory Group for the Mission.
Our Health and Medical Research Office coordinates this Mission.
Funding for the Australian Brain Cancer Mission comes from:
- the Australian Government’s Medical Research Future Fund ($49 million over 10 years for the Mission and $9.35 million from other MRFF initiatives)
- philanthropic contributions
Apply for funding
Researchers can register with GrantConnect to receive notifications about future funding opportunities under this Mission.
Status
Upcoming grants
There are no upcoming grant opportunities.
Open grant rounds
The Brain Cancer Survivorship opportunity opened on 18 December 2019 and will close on 3 March 2020.
Grants being assessed
There are no grants currently being assessed.
Grants awarded
We have funded the following projects under this Mission, as at 30 September 2019.
|
Funded Institution |
Project Name |
Chief Investigator/s |
Total Funding |
|
Monash University |
Australian and New Zealand Children's Haematology/Oncology Group |
Robyn Strong |
$2,500,000 |
|
University of Sydney |
Cooperative Trials Group for Neuro-Oncology |
TBC |
$2,500,000 |
|
University of New South Wales |
Zero Childhood Cancer - Personalised medicine program for children who have less than a 30% 5 year survival rate |
Professor Michelle Haber |
$5,002,023 |
|
La Trobe University |
Prospective, multicentre trial evaluating FET-PET in high grade glioma (FIG Study) |
Professor Andrew Scott |
$1,246,612 |
|
University of Sydney |
LUMOS (Low & Intermediate Grade Glioma Umbrella Study of Molecular Guided Therapies) |
Associate Professor Hui Gan |
$502,558 |
|
Total |
$11,751,193 |
||
We have also funded 4 brain cancer–related research grants as part of the Clinical Trials Activity (Rare Cancers, Rare Diseases and Unmet Needs) initiative. Three of these received additional philanthropic funding from the Carrie’s Beanies 4 Brain cancer Foundation and the Mark Hughes Foundation.
Related information
See a list of all MRFF grant recipients.
Contact
For more information, contact us.
Medical Research Future Fund (MRFF) contact
Contact for more information about the Medical Research Future Fund (MRFF), or to provide feedback on the MRFF website.
Cancer Australia
Cancer Australia aims to reduce the impact of cancer, improve outcomes for people affected by cancer and lead and coordinate national, evidence-based interventions for cancer control and care.