Our Funded Initiatives
Patient Research Involvement Movement (PRIME)
Since July 2022, Brain Tumour Research has partnered with sister charity brainstrust to fund PRIME.
PRIME connects patients and caregivers with researchers to provide the patient perspective needed to set up effective clinical trials. Not only does this initiative ensure that patient needs are woven into the trials making treatments more comfortable and supportive, but it makes the trial more attractive to external funders.
Brain Tumour Research Novel Therapeutics Accelerator (BTR-NTA)
The BTR-NTA programme funded by Brain Tumour Reseach is run in partnership with the Tessa Jowell Brain Cancer Mission.
Through the BTR-NTA programme, research groups who have a promising new therapeutic, device or idea for brain tumour treatment can apply to have their research robustly reviewed by academic and industry experts.
As a result of the detailed feedback provided to the applicants, the programme will see more therapeutics or devices enter human trials, more research focused on drug discovery, improved relationships with industry and academia, and the de-risking of trials.
BRAIN UK
BRAIN UK at the University of Southampton is the world’s first national virtual brain tissue bank, a unique and hugely important resource for researchers working across the UK, funded by Brain Tumour Research.
BRAIN UK has created and manages a game-changing database that catalogues more than 120,000 tumour tissue samples held across the network of NHS and Academic Pathology Centres in the UK. The facility acts as a “matchmaker,” linking suitable tumour samples to researchers investigating a range of neurological diseases, including brain tumours.
The University of Cardiff
Brain Tumour Research is working in partnership with the Medical Research Council (MRC) to fund ground-breaking research at Cardiff University, Wales.
The project award of £500,000 will see Dr Ben Newland at the School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences at Cardiff University, Wales, and colleagues from universities throughout the UK, working to develop an innovative surgically-implanted, drug-delivery system which represents a “paradigm shift” in treatment for glioblastoma (GBM) patients.
In the news: Novel therapeutics reviewed to accelerate potential treatments for brain tumour patients
The Brain Tumour Research Novel Therapeutics Accelerator (BTR-NTA) Committee met in London in November 2023 for the first time. The successful two-day meeting looked at three novel therapies, showcasing the need for expert guidance in the brain tumour research space to speed up the progress of new treatments, with the goal of improving outcomes for brain tumour patients.
“What really stood out was the need. The accelerator is going to have a huge impact going forward.”- Dr Juanita Lopez, BTR-NTA committee member