Our research partnerships

Our research partnerships enable mutually beneficial research collaborations with like-minded organisations from around the world, accelerating progress in the fight against cancer.

We work with organisations from across the academic, not-for-profit, government and private sectors, and welcome any collaborations that help to support our Research Strategy. Our flexible approach allows us to engage in a wide range of partnership initiatives with a variety of models, from large-scale co-funding of research projects and infrastructure to joint workshops and conferences.

Our partnership approach

Our vision is to bring forward the day when all cancers are cured. By working together with like-minded organisations in research areas of high strategic priority, as set out in our Research Strategy, we believe that we can reach that day sooner.

Explore our Research Strategy

What we offer partners

Our partners benefit from the extensive network of scientists and research infrastructure we can provide access to, along with our many years of experience in developing partnerships and a flexible approach to new collaboration opportunities.

Find out more about what we offer partners

£413 m

SPENT ON RESEARCH IN 2017/18


BROAD PORTFOLIO

FUNDING RESEARCH INTO ALL TYPES OF CANCER


OVER 150

RESEARCH PARTNERS WORLDWIDE

Our partnerships with other research organisations

We work with a wide variety of research organisations in the UK and internationally to advance the fight against cancer, and welcome collaborations with anyone who can help us in our cause. This includes other charities, academic institutions, philanthropic foundations, independent research institutes, and government funding agencies.

Find out more about partnering with CRUK

Our partnerships with industry

Our Commercial Partnerships team develop and commercialise exciting new discoveries in cancer research. Our deep understanding of both academia and industry enables us to translate promising research into commercial propositions for the greatest patient benefit and maximum financial return.

Find out more about our commercial partnership opportunities

Our research partnerships

We're currently engaged in initiatives with more than 150 partners worldwide. This snapshot gives some examples of how we're working together with other organisations to accelerate research.

Accelerator Award

We partner with the leading cancer research charities in Spain and Italy to help build international research networks through our Accelerator Award scheme.

American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) alliance

​Our trans-Atlantic alliance with the American Association for Cancer Research is accelerating the pace of progress against cancer by facilitating collaborations between scientists in the US and UK.

Brain Tumour Awards

We’re partnering with the Brain Tumour Charity to advance our understanding of brain tumours and how to overcome the challenges faced in translating discoveries into treatments.

Clinical Study Data Request (CSDR) initiative

We support the CSDR initiative to improve access to clinical trials data across different research organisations, in partnership with the Wellcome Trust, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and sixteen pharmaceutical companies.

CRUK–MedImmune Alliance Laboratory

This strategic partnership with AstraZeneca's global biologics arm will accelerate the translation of cancer research into potential new drugs.

CRUK–OHSU co-funded awards

We fund two grant schemes in collaboration with the OHSU Knight Cancer Institute focused on our shared priority for the early detection of cancer.

EPSRC Multidisciplinary co-funding

​We fund a multidisciplinary award scheme in partnership with the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council that brings researchers together from different scientific fields to bring fresh insights in cancer research.

Experimental Cancer Medicine Centres (ECMC) Network

This network brings new treatments to cancer patients as quickly as possible, in partnership with the UK's government health agencies.

The Francis Crick Institute

We're a founding partner of the Francis Crick Institute, a state-of-the-art research institute dedicated to fundamental biomedical science, alongside the Medical Research Council, Wellcome Trust, UCL, Imperial College London and Kings College London.

Fulbright–CRUK scholarships

We offer trans-Atlantic scholarship opportunities for US and UK-based scientists engaged in cancer research, in partnership with the Fulbright Commission.

Grand Challenge: PRECISION team

In partnership with the Dutch Cancer Society we are funding the PRECISION Grand Challenge team, who aim to prevent unnecessary breast cancer treatment through research into pre-cancerous cells.

Gurdon Institute

We fund the Cambridge-based Gurdon Institute in collaboration with the Wellcome Trust.

Human Cancer Models Initiative

Working in partnership with the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, the National Cancer Institute and Hubrecht Organoid Technology, we're supporting the development of a large, globally accessible biobank of new cancer models.

International Cancer Genome Consortium (ICGC)

We're part of the ICGC, an international consortium that is mapping the genetic faults in 50 of the most important cancer types.

International Rare Cancers Initiative (IRCI)

We provide support for international clinical trials into rare cancers, in partnership with cancer research organisations in Europe, North America, Japan and Australia.

Molecular Analysis for Personalised Therapy (MAP) Conference

We organise this annual oncology conference in collaboration with the European Society for Molecular Oncology (ESMO) and Unicancer.

MRC Stratified Medicine Consortia

In partnership with the Medical Research Council we are co-funding two stratified medicine consortia – the S-CORT (bowel cancer) and Re-IMAGINE (prostate cancer) consortia.

OHSU Knight Cancer Institute – Canary Center at Stanford – CRUK Early Detection of Cancer Conference

This annual conference – a collaboration between Cancer Research UK, the Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU) Knight Cancer Institute and the Canary Center at Stanford – convenes world leaders in the field of early detection research.

Pancreatic Cancer Dream Team

We're partnering with Stand Up To Cancer and the Lustgarten Foundation to build an international collaboration that will accelerate progress in pancreatic cancer research.

UK Biobank

We're part of a consortium of UK government and charitable organisations that provides funding for UK Biobank, a large-scale research initiative investigating how genetic predisposition and environmental factors affect the development of disease.

UKCRC Public Health Research Centres of Excellence

As part of the UKCRC consortium, we work with major public health funders to develop ways to improve public health research.

UK Prevention Research Partnership (UKPRP)

We are a member of the UKPRP consortium, which aims to support research into the primary prevention of non-communicable diseases.

Versus Arthritis

We're working with Versus Arthritis to encourage new collaborations and innovative research projects that could lead to significant progress in both disease areas.

100,000 Genomes Project

We support the 100,000 Genomes Project in its mission to sequence 100,000 genomes from cancer patients and individuals with rare diseases.