Unveiling hope : Your pathway to funding cancer research with European grant opportunities

Cancer is increasingly becoming a bigger challenge on patients. Its existence casts a dark shadow on patients and families alike. Yet, there is a beacon of hope: the relentless pursuit for a cure. While cancer could be one of the most studied and researched diseases, the pace at which it evolves remains high and a cause for concern.

One of the greatest challenges of cancer is in its definition. At the core, cancer is an abnormality in cell growth. This then turns into an uncontrollable spread and an invasion of healthy cells. There are many subtypes of the disease, that are highly adaptable to treatment. This makes it difficult to stick to one treatment course that is precise and effective.

Researchers and companies are working on developing personalized treatments that could be effective in mitigating or even decimating the disease all together. For this to continue, funding research could be key.

Here are a few grant funding opportunities for cancer R&D. These schemes offer large sums for developments of cancer research.

EP PerMeD

The European Partnership for Personalized Medicine (EP PerMed) is a platform for the joint programming of national and European research and innovation supporting activities. Apart from its European partners, it currently has over fifty international partners and a total budget of 375 million Euros.

The aim of EP PerMed is to improve people’s health through R&D, innovation, and the implementation of personalized medicine that can benefit not only the individual patients but society as a whole. EP PerMed funds personalized medicine research. It also acts as a global platform for scientific and strategic dialogue. It can ease and speed up the implementation of personalized medicine.

EP PerMed publishes yearly calls for proposals with submissions in two stages.

Transcan

The TRANSCAN-3 project is a collaborative effort involving 31 partners from 20 countries.

It focuses on prioritizing the fight against cancer and aims to coordinate investments in common priority areas for cancer research. TRANSCAN-3 offers various funding opportunities through joint calls focusing on different aspects of cancer research. Examples are epigenetics, rare cancers, immunology, and early detection methods.

Since 2011, it has funded 113 transnational research projects. The transnational call in 2022 resulted in 14 selected consortia receiving funding. Moreover, the project has showcased successful stories, like the iParaCyts and BeFIT projects.

Also, many funding organizations and institutions from different countries are involved in this effort. The project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Programme.

This funding programme is renewed yearly with a new focus topic.

HORIZON-MISS-2024-CANCER-01-03: Accessible and affordable tests to advance early detection of heritable cancers in European regions

This call is under the Horizon Europe Missions. The missions offer a new way to bring solutions to complex and challenging problems that we face. Their goal is to deliver actual results by the end of 2030. Horizon Europe has five mission areas in total. The second mission is all about cancer and how to prevent, cure and find solutions for this disease that can ensure longer and healthier lives.

This mission call aims at the development of biomarker-based tests that are affordable and accessible for the early detection of specific hereditary cancers. The idea is to have these tests enter routine healthcare, making it beneficial for people with the hereditary risk of cancer.

This call will fund 3 projects in total, with a budget of 10-12M Euros each.

Cancer remains a formidable challenge, but humanity is determined to overcome it. Researchers pursue a cure for cancer with dedication. Their groundbreaking research gets support from many funding opportunities. The pursuit of a cure for cancer continues to advance at an unprecedented pace.

We stand on the edge of big breakthroughs. They are fueled by the collective work of scientists, researchers, companies, and funders.

Hope shines brighter than ever.