Quest for Cures: Collaborative Discovery Teams
We are seeking innovative approaches to address the critical questions that could present a paradigm shift for brain tumour research or use unexplored paths to allow for new discoveries to be made.
Funding for collaborative discovery teams with transformational research ideas. The scheme aims to bring benefits to patients faster by acknowledging the importance of interdisciplinary team approaches in accelerating the understanding and translation of discoveries.
Key Dates
Stage 1 application (LOI) open: Tuesday 14 May 2024
Stage 1 application (LOI) deadline: Wednesday 10 July 2024, 1pm BST
Stage 2 full applications invited: October 2024
Stage 2 full applications close: November 2024
Funding decisions: April 2025
Quest for Cures 2025
Stage 1 application (LOI) open: 14 May 2025
Stage 1 application (LOI) deadline: 25 June 2025, 1pm BST
Stage 2 full applications invited: 22 October 2025
Stage 2 full applications close: 3 December 2025
Funding decisions: April 2026
Who are our current Quest for Cures researchers?
Quest for Cures 2024
These research projects were funded as part of our Quest for Cures grants awarded in 2024.
Dr Pau Creixell
Targeting protein kinases to develop effective drugs for glioblastoma
Dr Pau Creixell is the leader of the Creixell Group under Cancer Research UK Cambridge Institute. The work of him and his team is centred on studying the inhibition of tumour growth by preventing the activation of key protein kinases. Other studies of importance include cellular signalling specificity, molecular recognition and novel targeted therapies.
Dr Katja von Hoff
Improving treatment options for children diagnosed with rare tumours of the central nervous system
Dr Katja von Hoff is a researcher in Aarhus University Hospital in Denmark. She specialises in brain tumours such as medulloblastoma, ependymoma and paediatric tumours.
She is working on this project alongside Professor Barry Pizer.
Prof. Barry Pizer
Improving treatment options for children diagnosed with rare tumours of the central nervous system
Professor Barry Pizer is a researcher at Alder Hey, Liverpool who focuses on paediatrics and paediatric oncology. He also has history as a Consultant Paediatric Oncologist.
He is working on this project alongside Dr Katja von Hoff.
Quest for Cures 2023
Here are the research projects that were funded as part of our Quest for Cures grants that were awarded in 2023.
Dr. Jun Ishihara
Elimination of recurrent glioblastoma using tumour-collagen targeted IL-12
Dr. Jun Ishihara is a Lecturer in the Department of Bioengineering at Imperial College London. His laboratory works in the field of protein engineering, in research areas including cancer immunotherapy, autoimmunity, and regenerative medicine.
Prof. Marcel Kool
Growing model brains in the search for new treatments
Professor Marcel Kool is a leading expert in paediatric brain tumours, and his work focuses on precision diagnostics and innovative therapies. He leads a research group at the Hopp Children’s Cancer Center Heidelberg (KiTZ), Germany, and the Princess Máxima Center in Utrecht, and has recently been appointed as Professor of Childhood brain tumours at the University Medical Center in Utrecht.
Prof. Juan Pedro Martinez-Barbera
Targeting non-dividing cells in childhood high-grade tumours
Professor Juan Pedro Martinez-Barbera is the Head of the Developmental Biology and Cancer Research & Teaching Programme at Great Ormond Street ICH. He has a background of research in paediatric craniopharyngioma and senolytics, and more recently has been investigating senescence in other types of paediatric brain tumours.
Purpose and scope
Funding of up to £1.5 million per programme over five years is available.
Multidisciplinary teams should be formed from the most talented and promising researchers across institutions to address the issues and utilise technological advances across fields. The creation of the multidisciplinary team should facilitate research which would not be achievable without such a collaboration.
This funding for pre-clinical studies aims to:
- foster a collaborative research process
- strengthen the ties between basic and clinical research
- promote transformational brain tumour research advances with the potential for rapid clinical translation.
This funding should be allocated to cover direct costs for staff, including salaries, consumables and publication costs. Requests for capital / infrastructure will not be considered since it is expected that this will be available at the Lead Institution as well as all partner organisations. Grants will be awarded to the Principal Investigator’s institution. Funding can be allocated to co-investigator institutions with agreements put in place between all partner institutions.
Public and patient involvement
To obtain input from those affected by brain tumours, we strongly recommend that applicants access our Involvement Network (IN) for public and patient involvement. In order to receive feedback from the IN, please allow for a minimum of 3 weeks turnaround time.
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- All grant applications must focus on at least one of the research priorities highlighted in our research strategy ‘Accelerating a Cure’
- The award is open to international researchers but applications including a UK collaborator will be looked on favourably
- Teams should be formed of researchers across at least two/three institutions
- Teams should be comprised of both established and promising researchers from multidisciplinary backgrounds
- The principal applicant must hold an employment contract beyond the period of the grant
- If the principal applicant does not hold an academic or research position, the application must include a co-applicant at the Lead Institution who does
- A researcher may serve as principal applicant on only one proposal per grant round
- The collaborating teams should have the relevant expertise of laboratory and clinical researchers to demonstrate how discoveries will be translated and taken forward to patient benefit
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Innovative and transformative research
- The proposal should take novel approaches with a strong scientific rationale
- The proposal should demonstrate the capacity to revolutionise treatments and/or clinical decision making
- The proposal should demonstrate the capacity to develop new approaches or the translation of technologies for use in the diagnosis or treatment of brain tumours
- We encourage proposals that adopt a high-risk, high reward approach to addressing the key questions preventing progress in brain tumour research
Collaborative and multidisciplinary emphasis
- The application should outline the strengths of the collaborative team and indicate how the proposed work will achieve scientific goals that could not be realised by the individual components of the team
- The application should highlight any new avenues of research involving experts who currently work outside the brain tumour research field
Potential for patient benefit
- Applications should demonstrate a potential pathway for the proposed research to lead to patient benefit and the anticipated impact of this
- Applications with a clear path to clinical application will be strongly favoured
Milestone and goal-driven approach
- The research programme must have detailed milestones which will be used for monitoring progress
Value for money and communication plans
- The proposal should demonstrate how the requested funds are essential for the work and explain how the project represents value for money
- The proposal should include clear plans and mechanisms for sharing resources and information across the team, including existing resources and platforms
The Brain Tumour Charity is a member of the Association of Medical Research Charities (AMRC) and adheres to its principles of peer review. All applications will be considered by our Biomedical Scientific Advisory Board (Biomedical SAB) alongside lay representatives of people affected by brain tumours.
Guidance for applicants
Letter of intent guidance document 2024 update – PDF
Please take note of, and allow sufficient time for, the approval steps required to complete the submission process. We cannot guarantee late submissions will be accepted.
Full application guidance document 2024 update – PDF
Please take note of, and allow sufficient time for, the approval steps required to complete the submission process. We cannot guarantee late submissions will be accepted.
Further essential reading
There are other documents you must read before applying to our grant rounds. These include, but are not limited to Grant Conditions and Finance Guidelines. These documents can be found by following the link below.
How to apply
All applications should be made through our grant management portal.
If you need help creating or accessing your account please contact the Research Team on research@thebraintumourcharity.org
Further information
If you would like to discuss your application or need any information, please contact the Research Team.
Success rates:
Rolling success rate from LOI to Invited to submit a full application for the previous 3 rounds: 39%
Rolling success rate from full application to funding for the previous 3 rounds: 21%
E-mail: research@thebraintumourcharity.org
Phone: +44 (0) 1252 418190