Our committees oversee the peer review of applications for CRUK funding and support delivery of our strategic priorities.
Recently funded awards
This page lists the investigator-led programmes, projects and fellowships that we supported through our response-mode grant funding schemes committee meetings during 2018.
Details of decisions made in 2018 by our Drug Discovery Committee, New Agents Committee and Pioneer Awards Committee will be published later in the year.
Select a funding committee to see what they funded last year:
Advanced Clinician Scientist Fellowships
Sean Lim, University of Southampton
Exploiting the innate and adaptive immune interface for effective cancer therapy
Simon Buczacki, University of Cambridge
Contextual clonogenicity in differentiated colorectal cancer cells: understanding the ‘reserve’ cancer stem cell
David Church, University of Oxford
Mechanisms and consequences of hyper/ultramutation in colorectal and endometrial cancer
Paolo Gallipoli, University of Cambridge
Identification and characterisation of metabolic pathways as determinants of drug resistance in acute myeloid leukaemia
Clinician Scientist Fellowships
Thomas Mitchell, Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute
Understanding the multi-cellular microenvironment of renal cell carcinoma
David O’Connor, University College London
Identifying the genetic and functional drivers of chemoresistant T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukaemia
Amit Roshan, University of Cambridge
Molecular risk stratification of early stage melanoma by identifying early genetic events and ultra-sensitive detection of circulating tumour DNA
Simon Richardson, University of Cambridge
Characterisation of altered epigenetic cell states following loss of CREBBP function and their role in the induction and treatment of ALL
Pre-doctoral Research Bursaries
Mareike Thompson, University of Cambridge
Analysis of circulating tumour DNA (ctDNA) in patients with glioblastoma leveraging samples collected in the PARADIGM trial
Rachael Pocock, UCL Cancer Institute
Examining the role of Reptin and its interaction with the transcription factor MYB as a driver of leukaemogenesis in T-ALL
Edward Poynton, Queen Mary, University of London
Investigating circulating tumour DNA as a multi-purpose surveillance tool in follicular lymphoma
Akshay Patel, University of Birmingham
Is B cell Immune phenotype predictive of outcome and toxicity with combination checkpoint blockade in Non-small cell lung cancer patients?
Samuel Withey, King's College London
Utilising a radiogenomics approach for predicting therapy response in patients with primary oesophageal cancer undergoing neoadjuvant therapy
CRUK/Pathological Society Pre-doctoral Research Bursaries
Lorelle Brownlee, University College London
Tumour evolution in neuroendocrine lung cancers
Sophie Prendergast, University College London
Genomic profiling of adamantinoma
Hannah Crane, University of Sheffield
Exploring chemotherapy resistance in HPV-positive and HPVnegative Oropharyngeal Squamous Cell Carcinoma (OPSCC)
Dr Vinaya Srirangam Nadhamuni, Queen Mary, University of London
Growth hormone-secreting pituitary adenomas: The link between AIP mutations and resistance to treatment with somatostatin analogues
Postdoctoral Research Bursaries
Kezia Gaitskell, University of Oxford
The molecular pathological epidemiology of ovarian cancer in the million women study: a pilot study
Kate Marks, University of Leeds
Understanding the rate limiting events that determine the fixation and spread of somatic mutations in normal and diseased bowel mucosa and how they lead to colorectal cancer
Elaine Leung, University of Glasgow
Deciphering the role of the CCR7/CCL21 chemokine axis in ovarian cancer
Saif Ahmad, University of Cambridge
Deciphering the role of androgen receptor mediated upregulation of DNA repair capacity as a driver of breast cancer radioresistance
Sally George, Institute of Cancer Research
Therapeutic targeting of the DNA damage response pathway in neuroblastoma with alterations in ATRX and alternative lengthening of telomeres (ALT)
Rasheed Zakaria, University of Liverpool
BRain dIffusion TEnsor imaging to predict immunotherapy response in METastatic melanoma (BRITEMET)
John Findlay, University of Oxford
Augmenting clinical decision-making and predicting success of first-line therapies for oesophageal cancer using multi-omics and artificial intelligence
Biomarker Project Awards
Dr Sudha Sundar and Dr James Brenton, University of Birmingham
ROCKETS-GEN: Earlier detection of ovarian cancer using novel genomic technology
Clinical Trial Awards*
Professor Mererid Evans, Professor Terence Jones and Professor Christian Simon, Cardiff University
PATHOS: Post-operative adjuvant treatment for HPV-positive tumours
Professor Maria Hawkins, University College London
ABC-07: Addition of stereotactic body radiotherapy to systemic chemotherapy in locally advanced biliary tract cancers
Dr Geoff Higgins, University of Oxford
ARCADIAN: Phase I study combining the tumour hypoxia modifier atovaquone with radical chemoradiotherapy in locally advanced NSCLC
Dr Anthony Kong, University of Birmingham
TWEET: A randomised phase II Trial of WEE1 inhibitor (AZD1775) with Taxane chemotherapy (paclitaxel) versus paclitaxel in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma
Dr Adam Mead, University of Birmingham
PROMise: Investigation into the combination of a Plexxikon BETi with ruxolitinib in patients with high or intermediate-2 risk myelofibrosis not receiving an adequate response with ruxolitinib alone
Dr John Moppett, University College London
ALLTogether-1: A Treatment study protocol of the ALLTogether Consortium for children and young adults (1-45 years of age) with newly diagnosed acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL)
Professor Carlo Palmieri and Dr Anthony Kong, University of Birmingham
RADIANT-BC: A multi-cohort Phase Ib/expansion cohort study of the efficacy and safety of radiosurgery with durvalumab followed by durvalumab and standard of care systemic therapy in patients with brain metastases secondary to breast cancer
Endorsements
Professor Gareth Griffiths and Professor Dean Fennell, University of Southampton
IND227: A phase II/III randomised trial of pembrolizumab in patients with advanced malignant pleural mesothelioma
Professor Gareth Griffiths, Professor Robert Huddart and Dr Simon Crabb, University of Southampton
BL13: A randomised phase II trial assessing trimodality therapy with or without adjuvant durvalumab to treat patients with muscle-invasive bladder cancer
Dr David Chang, University of Glasgow
PRIMUS-004: Second line Chemotherapy for metastatic pancreatic cancer
Dr Susana Banerjee and Professor Judith Bliss, Institute of Cancer Research
ATARI: ATr inhibitor in combination with olaparib in gynaecological cancers with ARId1A loss or no loss
Extension
Professor Robert Hills and Professor Nigel Russell, Cardiff University
AML18: A trial for older patients with acute myeloid leukaemia and high risk myelodysplastic syndrome
Renewal
Professor Gary Middleton, University of Birmingham
LungMatrix: Multi-drug, genetic marker-directed, non-comparative, multi-centre, multi-arm phase II trial in non-small cell lung cancer
Prospective Sample Collection Awards
Dr Marcia Hall, University of Glasgow
TRANS CeNtuRIOn
Clinical Trial Fellowships
Dr John Apps, Leeds Clinical Trials Research Unit
Dr Alexandra Gilbert, Cancer Research UK Clinical Trial Unit Birmingham
Dr Magdalena Meissner, Wales Cancer Trials Unit
*This list includes grants awarded under our Early Phase and Feasibility Study Awards and Late Phase Clinical Trial Awards, which were replaced in 2018 with the single Clinical Trial Awards scheme
Early Detection Programme Awards
Ellie Barnes,University of Oxford
The Early Detection of Hepatocellular Liver Cancer [DeLIVER]
Early Detection Project Awards
Syed Khurram and Nasir Rajpoot, University of Sheffield and University of Warwick
ANTICIPATE- Artificial Intelligence to improve Classification and Predict Malignant Transformation of Oral Epithelial Dysplasia
Richard Turkington, Queen’s University Belfast
Molecular biomarkers to predict progression of Barrett’s Oesophagus (BO) to Oesophageal Adenocarcinoma (OAC)
Philip Dunne, Queen’s University Belfast
Molecular risk stratification in patients with T1 colorectal cancer
Ming-Qu Du and Matthew Ahearne, University of Cambridge and University of Oxford
Peripheral T-cell Lymphoma: Early Detection By Mutation Analysis
Kathreena Kurian and Sabine Hauert, University of Bristol
Development of a cheap sensitive blood test for early detection of new and proven biomarkers of glioblastoma using fluorescent carbon dots and nanophotonics
Early Detection Primer Awards
Dr Hannah Leese & Dr Sandhya Moise, University of Bath
Exosome-based diagnostic module for early cancer detection
Dr Isidro Cortes Ciriano, European Bioinformatics Institute
Harnessing extrachromosomal circular DNA for liquid biopsy analysis
Dr Kevin Litchfield, University College London
Immune dysfunction as a biomarker for the early detection of lung cancer development and relapse
Dr Stuart Higgins & Dr John Goertz, Imperial College London
Adapting Organic Transistor Arrays into Multiplexed Biosensor for Direct Detection of Breast Cancer-Relevant Circulating microRNA
Mr Zaed Hamady & Professor Chris Byrne, University of Southampton
Early identification of patients with pancreatic cancer: a pilot study to evaluate the utility of Faecal elastase-1 and 13C-mixed triglyceride breath test as screening tools in high-risk individuals
Dr Christopher Rowlands & Dr Muhsincan Sesen, Imperial College London
Towards High-Throughput Detection of Ovarian Cancer Cells from Liquid Biopsy using Stimulated Raman Scattering
Dr Anjali Kusumbe & Professor Richard Williams, University of Oxford
Early detection of sarcoma relapse
Dr Smita Patel, University of Oxford
The Interrogation of DNA repair and cell free DNA detection as tools for early diagnosis in Common Variable Immunodeficiency Associated Cancer
Dr Joseph Hardwicke & Dr Emma McPherson, University of Warwick
Melanoma detection using Terahertz imaging: The MELT study
Early Detection Innovation Awards
Digital Pathology & AI
Team Haem-AI led by Daniel Royston, University of Oxford
Advanced early detection of myeloproliferative neoplasms (MPN) using digital image analysis, computational pathology and machine learning.
Team PathNAV led by Marnix Jansen, University College London
PathNAV – Early detection of pre-neoplastic changes in Barrett’s oesophagus using expert knowledge augmented machine learning.
Team PRISM led by Jan Lukas Robertus, Imperial College London
PRISM - Machine Learning for Discovery of Pre-neoplastic signature in Mesothelioma.
Career Development Fellowship
Dr Charles Massie, University of Cambridge
Early events in prostate cancer: causes, consequences and opportunities for precision medicine in early prostate cancers
Dr Alexis Barr, Imperial College London
Understanding proliferation-quiescence decisions in response to DNA damage
Dr Emma Kerr, Queen’s University Belfast
Defining metabolic mechanisms of drug resistance in colorectal cancer
Dr Kasper Rasmussen, University of Dundee
Aberrant DNA methylation and its impact in blood cancer development
Dr Raheleh Rahbari, The Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute
Pathogenic variants and clonal dynamics in normal and cancerous testes and their role in cancer predisposition
Career Establishment Award
Dr Helen Coleman, Queen’s University Belfast
Epidemiology and molecular pathology epidemiology of Barrett's oesophagus and oesophageal adenocarcinoma in the modern treatment era
Dr Alan Serrels, University of Edinburgh
Defining the mechanisms of FAK-dependent immune evasion in Pancreatic Cancer
Dr Kendle Maslowski, University of Birmingham
Mechanisms of attenuated Salmonella cancer therapy–metabolic reprogramming and immune modulation
Senior Cancer Research Fellowship
Dr Adam Mead, University of Oxford
Unravelling cancer stem cell heterogeneity in myeloproliferative neoplasms
Dr Ferdia Gallagher, University of Cambridge
Hyperpolarised carbon-13 MRI for metabolic imaging of renal cell carcinoma
Programme Grants
Gary Collins, University of Oxford
A Programme of Applied Statistical Methodology Research
Richard Gray, University of Oxford
Early breast cancer meta-analyses and trials: Early Breast Cancer Trialists' Collaborative Group (EBCTCG) and the AgeX NHS breast screening trial
Peter Sasieni, King’s College London
Cancer Screening & Statistics
Project Grants
Abigail Fisher, University College London
Advancing survival cancer outcomes trial (ASCOT); long-term follow-up
Jesper Lagergren, King’s College London
Circulating sex hormone levels and risk of oesophageal adenocarcinoma
Mark Rutherford, University of Leicester
Providing detailed insight into the impact of a cancer diagnosis across a full pathway for cancer patients: development and application of novel methodology
Michael Ussher, University of Stirling
A qualitative study of factors influencing adherence among pregnant women attempting to stop smoking with the aid of electronic cigarettes
Population Research Postdoctoral Fellowship
Tanimola Martins, University of Exeter
Ethnic inequality in diagnosis and outcomes in cancer
Hannah Littlecott, Cardiff University
Using social network analysis to understand the role of school-based social diffusion processes in smoking initiation among adolescents in contemporary Western society
Leah Jayes, University of Nottingham
Preventing relapse to smoking among prisoners after release
Catalyst Award
TBA spring 2019
Programme Awards
Christian Siebold, University of Oxford
Molecular Mechanisms of Morphogen Signalling at the Cell Surface
Kamil Kranc, Queen Mary, University of London
Targeting RNA metabolism to expand haematopoietic stem cells and eredicate acute myeloid leukaemia
Jeffery Pollard, University of Edinburgh
Systemic and local influences of cancer on myeloid cell biology promote tumor malignancy
Shonit Punwani, University College London
Novel microstructural (VERDICT and T2 mapping) and metabolic (hyperpolarised 13C-Pyruvate) MR in diagnosis, risk-stratification and treatment response assessment of prostate cancer
Juan Pedro Martinez-Barbera, Institute of Child Health and University College London
Characterisation of the pro-tumourigenic activities of cellular senescence in adamantinomatous craniopharyngioma and preclinical validation of novel therapies
Stephen Royle, University of Warwick
Mitotic spindle stability and chromosome missegregation in cancer
Simon Robinson, The Institute of Cancer Research
Advancing MRI Biomarkers of the Tumour Microenvironment for Patient Benefit
Renewals
Bart Vanhaesebroeck, University College London
PI3Kalpha and PI3Kdelta in cancer biology and therapy
Kim Nasmyth, University of Oxford
How does cohesin regulate transcription in mammalian cells and how does this go awry in tumour cells?
Frances Balkwill, Queen Mary University of London
Targeting the innate immune system in high grade serous ovarian cancer
Jessica Downs, The Institute of Cancer Research
Investigating the contribution of chromatin dynamics to DNA damage responses and genome stability
Keith Caldecott, University of Sussex
A Novel Role for PARP Activity During Normal S phase and its Impact on Genome Stability and Cancer
Ian Tomlinson, University of Birmingham
Using predisposition genes to understand and prevent colorectal cancer
Philip Jones, Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute
Reshaping the mutational landscape in oesophageal squamous pre-cancer
Henning Walczak, University College London
Understanding the tumour-supportive functions of endogenous TRAIL and LUBAC in the context of cancer immunotherapy
Programme Foundation Awards
Cristina Lo Celso, Imperial College London
Understanding the competition between healthy and malignant haematopoiesis within the bone marrow microenvironment: from mechanisms to targets
Simon Mendez-Ferrer, University of Cambridge
Microenvironmental metabolic regulation in myeloid malignancies
Christian Frezza, University of Cambridge
The role of Fumarate Hydratase loss and fumarate accumulation in the predisposition to renal cancer
Multidisciplinary Project Awards
Mieke Van Hemelrijck and Anthony Coolen, King’s College London
New quantitative tools for precision medicine: overfitting correction in multivariate Cox analysis
Paul Beard and Brian Davidson, University College London
Photoacoustic-guided minimally invasive treatment of liver cancer
David Klenerman and Kevin Brindle, University of Cambridge
New biophysical tools to elucidate the role of P53 aggregates in cancer biology
Andrew Povey, University of Manchester, Perdita Elizabeth Barran (Manchester), David Mark Williams, University of Sheffield, Nicholas H Williams (Sheffield), Geoffrey Paul Margison (Manchester)
Identification and nucleotide resolution mapping of alkyl adducts in human DNA
Cancer Immunology Project Awards
Mala Maini, University College London
Overcoming metabolic checkpoints for T cell immunotherapy of liver cancer
Lucy Walker, University College London
Identifying autoimmune signatures in patients receiving checkpoint immunotherapy
Michelle Bombardieri and Hemant Kocher, Queen Mary University of London
Anti-tumour specificity and functionality of monoclonal antibodies derived from single lesional B cells from ectopic germinal centres in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma
Cecilia Johansson, Imperial College London
Cancer and viral infections in the lung - a delicate balance of microenvironments
Project Awards
Michael Ussher, St George’s University of London
Maternal exposure to carcinogens, toxicants and nicotine during among e-cigarette users, smokers, nicotine replacement therapy users and ‘never smokers’ during pregnancy
Tessa Langley, University of Nottingham
Development of a vape shop-based smoking cessation intervention
Jo Brett, Oxford Brookes University
Community and Hospital Pharmacists and E-cigarettes
Frances Thirlway, University of York
Health inequalities and the role of family in smoking maintenance and cessation: an intergenerational study in the North of England
Catherine Kimber, London South Bank University
Testing E-Cigarette pod-devices: Are EU-TPD (Tobacco Product Directive) compliant pod-devices sufficiently satisfying to UK smokers?
Anne MacKintosh, University of Stirling
Youth Tobacco Policy Survey (YTPS), Wave 9
Katie Eminson and Tessa Langley, University of Nottingham
Expansion and evaluation of a smoking data monitoring tool
Felix Naughton, University of East Anglia
Investigating within-person patterns and trajectories of dual e-cigarette and tobacco use: a mixed methods study
Peter Hajek, Queen Mary University
Health outcomes and relapse rates associated with long-term use of e-cigarettes
Alexander Barker, University of Nottingham
A content analysis of tobacco content in UK reality TV programmes
Lorna McWilliams, University of Manchester
Readiness of lung cancer screening services to deliver concurrent smoking cessation treatment: Guideline and implementation toolkit
Rachel O’Donnell, University of Stirling
Fathers who smoke and smoke-free homes: an exploratory study to inform future intervention development
Amanda Amos, University of Edinburgh
Young people's perception and experiences of standardised tobacco packaging and e-cigarettes - a qualitative exploration
Peter Sasieni, King’s College London
A nationwide registry of participants in e-cigarette trials to evaluate long-term health outcomes associated with their use
Ann McNeill, King’s College London
Longitudinal survey on smoking, vaping and use of heated tobacco products: 6th wave
Programme Awards
Deborah Arnott, Action on Smoking and Health
Suzanne Cass, Action on Smoking and Health Wales
Project awards
Clare Bankhead, University of Oxford
Evaluation of e-safety netting templates in primary care: A pragmatic stepped wedge RCT
Paul Harper, Cardiff University
Analysis and Modelling of a Single Cancer Pathway Diagnostics Phase
Katie Robb, University of Glasgow
Increasing uptake of faecal immunochemical test (FIT) bowel screening: trial of providing a suggested deadline for FIT kit return
Mark Rutherford, University of Leicester
Gains in life expectancy as tangible metrics for improvement assessment
More facts and figures about our research funding
Find out more about how and where we supported research in the last year with our interactive map and infographics.
Successful applicant case studies
Our Research Prizes
Do you know somebody whose exceptional research merits reward and recognition? Nominate the rising stars and inspiring leaders of cancer research for our Research Prizes by 31 March.