Published: 09 September 2024
Today, the NIHR has launched the next step in the UK’s commitment to stimulate brain tumour research in adults, children and young people.
Two new calls for research into brain tumours have been launched today, as part of the UK Government’s commitment to expand life-saving and life-improving work in this area.
These funding calls are looking for creative solutions to increase research and will enable research that generates high-quality evidence that will transform how services deliver and improve clinical practice and patient outcomes in brain tumour care.
This announcement today forms part of the largest combined initiative of its kind. The package is led by NIHR and the Tessa Jowell Brain Cancer Mission (TJBCM). These funding calls mark an innovative collaboration between charities, research funders and Government to listen and consult with the brain tumour community to increase and accelerate research in brain cancer.
The two calls launched today will help develop and deliver new treatments for brain tumours and improvements to patient care. Further funding will be provided through the Tessa Jowell Fellowships programme.
Health Minister Baroness Gillian Merron said: “Every brain cancer diagnosis has a life-changing impact on the patient and their families.
"Innovative research is vital in our fight against this devastating disease, ensuring people are offered the most cutting-edge treatments and the highest quality care. These new research opportunities will bolster this approach – helping to speed up the diagnosis of tumours and aiding the recovery of patients.”
Hardest to treat
Brain tumours remain one of the hardest to treat cancers. Just 12% of adults survive beyond five years after a diagnosis. In 2018, the late Dame Tessa Jowell led a call to action on behalf of all patients to tackle brain tumours. Since then, NIHR has been working with the TJBCM to deliver high quality research into brain tumours.
Professor Lucy Chappell, NIHR CEO, said: “The approach announced today will drive forward transformative brain tumour research to improve how we prevent, detect, manage and treat brain tumours, in both adults and children. We would like our investment to see scientific advancements translate into better outcomes for patients and their families.
“We are committed to increasing our support for high quality brain tumour research, ensuring that funding is used in the most meaningful and impactful way.
“As we continue this journey together, I call upon the brain tumour research community to take up this opportunity for collaboration to drive innovation that will help us embed the needs of patients, carers, researchers, and clinicians at every stage in this step-change.”
Funding calls
Today’s funding calls are the following:
- A transformative new funding call for the evaluation of novel therapies and optimisation of brain tumour treatments:
To be delivered through a new national NIHR Brain Tumour Research Consortium, this call will drive a step-change in brain cancer research. It will capitalise on recent developments in precision medicine. It will build capacity by bringing new researchers into the field and supporting early career researchers to focus on brain cancer. It will develop a network for the delivery of brain tumour trials. This will ensure the most promising research opportunities are made available to adult and child patients.
- A new funding call to generate high quality evidence in brain tumour care, support and rehabilitation:
A call focussing on care, support, and quality of life for patients with brain tumours. This will build research evidence on interventions such as rehabilitation for patients with brain tumours. NIHR’s Health Technology Assessment (HTA) Programme and the Health and Social Care Delivery Research (HSDR) Programme will fund the call.
Fellowships
Later this year the new Tessa Jowell allied health professional (AHP) research fellowships will launch. This will fund, train and support two early-career AHPs or other healthcare professionals to deliver research into improving the quality of life of patients. It will generate an evidence base to support patients with brain cancer rehabilitation. It aims to build a new generation of highly-skilled, research-active healthcare professionals. It will be funded by NIHR and led by TJBCM, through the Tessa Jowell Fellowship Programme.
Applying for the calls
We are seeking an ambitious proposal for the national consortium. To support this, NIHR and TJBCM will host a webinar and workshop with key stakeholders, including industry partners. They will ensure a strong and cohesive proposal which has the potential to deliver a step-change for brain cancer.
Details of the funding calls and how to apply are available on the NIHR website: