WCRF awards new research grants for 2019

5 November 2019

This year’s grant programme has awarded more than £2.5 million on funding for vital research into the links between diet, nutrition, physical activity and cancer prevention and survival. The 11 new projects we are funding will research areas including the effect of a vegetarian diet on cancer risk, the role of comorbidities, the effect of WCRF’s Cancer Prevention Recommendations on colorectal and bladder cancer, and how different exercise interventions can help cancer survivors.

> View the new research grants on a map

The newly awarded grants that we are funding are:

Dr Paul Brennan, International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC-WHO), France (£279,710)

Assessing the role of obesity and insulin across multiple cancers using a Mendelian randomisation approach.

Dr John Campbell, University of Bath, UK (£59,997)

Evaluating the safety and acceptability of a progressive exercise programme for Chronic Lymphocytic Leukaemia: a randomised-controlled pilot trial.

Dr Jesper Frank Christensen, Copenhagen University Hospital, Denmark (£349,854)

Molecular mechanisms underlying the protective effect of preoperative exercise training in patients with gastro-oesophageal cancer.

Prof Melinda Craike, Victoria University, Australia (£59,776)

Feasibility study of a brief, nurse-led behaviour change intervention to increase physical activity for prostate cancer survivors living in disadvantaged communities.

Dr Heinz Freisling, International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC-WHO), France (£228,000)

Obesity and cancer risk and survival: the role of comorbidities.

Dr Renate Winkels, Wageningen University, Netherlands (£349,232)

Will improved adherence to WCRF/AICR’s Cancer Prevention Recommendations lead to less fatigue in colorectal cancer survivors? A randomised controlled trial.

Associate Prof Andre La Gerche, Baker Heart and Diabetes Institute, Australia (£291,726)

Preventing functional disability in breast cancer survivors – A randomised controlled exercise intervention.

Dr Aurora Perez-Cornago, University of Oxford, UK (£183,764)

Vegetarian diets and cancer risk: analysis of individual participant data from eight prospective studies.

Dr Renée Turzanski Fortner, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Germany (£349,692)

Biological mechanisms underpinning associations between adult body fatness and postmenopausal breast, endometrial and ovarian cancers: A systematic review demonstration project using the WCRF/University of Bristol Framework.

Dr Emma Vincent, University of Bristol, UK (£289,425)

Is the impact of obesity on colorectal cancer mediated through changes to the circulating metabolome?

Dr Alina Vrieling, Radboudumc, Netherlands (£142,000)

Adherence to WCRF/AICR’s lifestyle recommendations in bladder cancer patients: associations with risk of recurrence and health- related quality of life.

We look forward to the results of these research projects.