Dear Voornaam,

Over the past 20 years, only a few bespoke paediatric cancer therapeutics have been approved.

Today, Cancer Research Horizons and LifeArc join forces to launch C-Further, an international consortium to work with others to develop new, tailored and well-tolerated drugs for childhood cancers.

C-Further will take a fresh approach and integrate discovery science from around the world with therapeutic capabilities to develop new medicines for children and young people affected by cancer.

With £28m in initial investment in resource and funding, C-Further will bring together researchers, clinicians, scientists and industry to advance discoveries into novel therapeutics and ultimately to patients.

For researchers, C-Further offers a comprehensive support package tailored to the unique needs of your project to help advance your discoveries into therapeutics. You’ll gain access to cutting-edge drug discovery facilities, expert support, funding and a wealth of scientific, technical, and commercial resources.

The consortium is calling on the community to submit projects with either early-stage therapeutics or validation targets for children’s and young people’s cancers that have therapeutic potential.

Are you interested in partnering with C-Further? Submit your research idea and complete the expression of interest form by 1 November 2024, for a chance to work with C-Further and advance your innovation.

Join the C-Further researcher webinar

Join online on 18 September 2024, from 4–5 PM (BST), for a webinar on C-Further, the new international consortium dedicated to advancing therapeutics for childhood cancers.

Find out how it can support translational projects, and everything you need to know to submit your expression of interest.

Sheena Patel, Principal Scientist at Cancer Research Horizons and Liz Hookham, Principal Analyst at LifeArc, will walk you through the application process, explaining what a well-validated target looks like across different modalities, and share what type of projects they’re looking for.

David Jenkinson, Head of Childhood Cancer at LifeArc, will share the consortium's vision and goals, while Neil Jones, Vice President of Portfolio Generation at Cancer Research Horizons will highlight C-Further’s drug discovery capabilities.

Meet the latest grant awardees selected by our Clinical Research Committee

Congratulations to the latest researchers receiving grant awards from our Clinical Research Committee:

Nicholas McGranahan, James Black, Alexandra Clipson and Alicia-Marie Conway received Biomarker Project Awards. Gary Middleton and Caroline Dive were selected for Experimental Medicine Awards, whilst Ashwin Sachdeva, Noel Clarke and Gert Attard were selected for Prospective Sample Collection Awards.

Gordon Cook, Charlotte Pawlyn and Adele Fielding received a Clinical Trial Award funded in partnership by us and Blood Cancer UK.

#ResearchIsBeautiful winner: Childhood Cancer Awareness Month edition

Congratulations to Federica Lorenzi from the Institute of Cancer Research for winning the image of the month in our Research is Beautiful image campaign.

Federica’s image captured trunk neural crest cells – in a heart shape – obtained from the differentiation of human embryonic stem cells to understand how neuroblastoma forms and develops. The bright heart made of cells reminds Federica of the value of her work in helping the neuroblastoma research community and improving the life of the young patients.

Hint for the upcoming round – images about breast cancer are more than welcome. Drop us an email by 25 September for the chance to become our next winner.