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AI cancer support and prostate cancer exercise trial among projects awarded new funding

Regular Grant Programme graphic showing the spread of 16 grants awarded

16 projects awarded funding in World Cancer Research Fund International's Regular Grant Programme, plus 6 INSPIRE grants for early career investigators.

Author: Rob Mansfield
Published: 14 November 2023

We are thrilled to announce more than £4.2m in funding for exciting new research in the World Cancer Research Fund annual grant programme award, including 6 grants for early career researchers.

The grant holders – from the UK, Australia, the Netherlands, Belgium, Denmark and France – will continue to advance our knowledge of cancer prevention and survivorship, investigating the role that diet, nutrition, physical activity and body weight have on cancer.

A total of 16 grants have been awarded as part of our Regular Grant Programme, including a study looking at the effects yoga has on women living with breast cancer.

The newly awarded grants, funded by our network of cancer prevention charities – which includes World Cancer Research Fund in the UK and Wereld Kanker Onderzoek Fonds in the Netherlands – are:

Inspiring early career researchers

For the first time ever, we have awarded INSPIRE Research Challenge grants in partnership with American Institute for Cancer Research and Wereld Kanker Onderzoek Fonds. The programme is aimed at researchers in their early careers.

World Cancer Research Fund has awarded more than £397,000 to 6 INSPIRE grant holders, covering areas including how sleep, the immune system and stress affect cancer risk.

INSPIRE challenge graphic 2023

Below is the full list of INSPIRE grants awarded by our network:

Dr Panagiota Mitrou, World Cancer Research Fund’s Director of Research, Innovation and Policy, said:

We’re dedicated in continuing in our mission to help avoid preventable cancers and improve survival rates through our research funding. From research into how yoga can reduce pain for women living with breast cancer, to the effect lifestyle choices have on childhood cancer survivors, we’re proud to announce our 2023 grants.

Innovation is key for our Inspire grants, which look at a wider range of cancer risk factors than ever before, including the impact sleep has on cancer. With this new scheme of funding, we’re bridging the gap in the field by supporting early career researchers – which is why our new INSPIRE grant scheme is vital.