The Medical Research Council (MRC) and Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) have launched a new funding opportunity for researchers of hard-to-treat cancers. The £2.5m budget, for grants of up to £500,000, will focus on cancers with the lowest five-year survival figures including brain, lung, oesophageal, pancreatic, stomach and liver cancers.
The funding opportunity known as Technological innovation for understanding cancers of unmet need – sandpit workshop has been designed to bring together researchers from diverse disciplines, such as medical, data, engineering and physical science. The purpose of which is to drive the co-development of innovative and high-risk high-reward technologies in order to understand cancers of unmet needs better and to treat cancer more effectively.
It is fantastic to see a new funding opportunity available for the brain tumour research community. Increased investment will raise the profile for brain tumours, help to grow research capacity and hopefully translate into new innovative treatment ideas and trials.
The sandpit workshop has highlighted specific cancer challenge themes they are looking to consider. These include tumour heterogeneity and molecular complexity as well as treatment resistance, two vitally important areas of research for brain tumour patients.
The deadline for applications from both academia and industry is 8th November 2022, with a two day in-person event being held on 18th and 19th January 2023.
Dr Karen Noble said: “We welcome the news of this funding opportunity from the MRC and EPSRC. We encourage the brain tumour research community to apply and are looking forward to hearing how the £2.5m will be spent.”
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