MRF Impact of Cancer and Cancer Care on Human Biology and Health Research Grant

Grant funding over a maximum of five years to support researchers, clinical academics and allied health professionals in the UK conducting research that seeks to better understand and improve the quality of life of people living with cancer, or those who have survived cancer.

The Medical Research Foundation (MRF) is an independent research-funding charity established by the Medical Research Council (MRC) that administers a number of grants and fellowships to support cutting-edge research, in areas of clear and unmet need, to increase understanding of disease and benefit public health.

The MRF has allocated £3 million for the Impact of Cancer and Cancer Care on Human Biology and Health grants to support research that seeks to better understand and improve the quality of life of people living with cancer, or those who have survived cancer.

While cancer treatments and survival rates have significantly improved over the past years, to the extent that some cancers are now considered chronic health conditions, more research is needed on the impacts of cancer treatments and people’s health once they enter remission. This can include the physical side effects of the treatments they receive, the support services available to them, and the mental health impacts

The MRF is seeking research proposals aiming to better understand and improve the quality of life of people living with or having survived cancer.

Research areas could include, but are not limited to:

• Biological basis of the side effects of cancer treatments such as understanding those caused by immunotherapies/biological therapeutics.
• Improvement of long-term and late effects of cancer treatment, such as increased risk of secondary cancers, cardiac issues and stroke later in life, particularly in paediatric cancer patients.
• Side effects of cancer treatments such as neurological complications of cancer, mouth ulcers and swallowing issues, fatigue, pain and nausea.
• Identification of risk or predictive factors on cancer therapy efficacy and severity of side effects, such as the role of the microbiome.
• Improvement of the consequences of cancer treatment such as infertility, endocrine deficiencies and organ removal or impacts of major surgery.
• Palliative care during cancer treatment and recovery.
• Rehabilitation therapies before, during and after cancer treatment and recovery, including physiotherapy and occupational therapy.
• Psychological and mental health effects of cancer and cancer survivorship.

Applicants will need to demonstrate how their proposal represents potential for impact, particularly where their proposal is in an area of research that has already received significant research funding to date. Applicants are encouraged to include people with lived experience in the development of their proposal.

Projects related to understanding the fundamental biology of cancer or developing novel diagnostics are out of scope. Research focused solely on interventions or therapies for the last days of life, end of life planning or bereavement would also be out of scope.

Projects involving the development of new treatments may be eligible for consideration where it can be demonstrated thatthey would be an improvement on existing care, and must identify the evidence base for the treatment.