Our ‘A Cure Can’t Wait’ research strategy was released, outlining that we will be pioneering, passionate, collaborative and smart in striving for a world where brain tumours are defeated.
Our ‘A Cure Can’t Wait’ research strategy was released, outlining that we will be pioneering, passionate, collaborative and smart in striving for a world where brain tumours are defeated.
We finished the financial year with an income of £5.1 million.
Our ‘Defeating Brain Tumours’ strategy was released, aiming to double survival and halve the harm that brain tumours have on quality of life.
HeadSmart, our early diagnosis campaign for children, was included in the ‘Achieving World Class Cancer Outcomes: A Strategy for England 2015-2020’.
‘Losing Myself: The Reality of Life with a Brain Tumour’ research was completed and published. As the largest, most comprehensive study to date into day-to-day life with a brain tumour, this research has guided much of our support services strategy.
The first Quest for Cures (Q4C) research grants were awarded. These are our largest grants of up to £1.5m each, funding global, collaborative research into pioneering treatments for brain tumours.
We entered a partnership with the Structural Genomics Consortium (SGC) to fund two research posts focusing on accelerating the discovery of potential treatments for brain tumours with this open science programme.
Research we funded led to a revision of the World Health Organisation (WHO) classification of brain tumours. For the first time, there was consensus on four subgroups of medulloblastoma – the most common brain tumour in children – enabling more tailored treatment.
Childhood brain tumour diagnosis times were reduced from 13 to 6.5 weeks following the success of HeadSmart, our UK-wide campaign.
A Patient Guide to Brain Tumour Treatment and Services was published, which empowers our community to feel confident when talking to their medical team.
The Grant Review and Monitoring Committee (GRAM) was replaced with two scientific advisory boards (SABs), to bring together internationally renowned scientific and medical experts, who work in different areas of cancer research and social science.
The Everest Centre, a groundbreaking international research initiative was awarded a £5 million grant, our biggest to date.
The first patient steering group meeting took place for BRIAN, our revolutionary app and research databank to help transform outcomes for people with brain tumours.
We helped set up a roundtable meeting, initiating the Tessa Jowell Brain Cancer Mission, which aims to improve brain tumour survival for everyone affected by the disease.
Research we funded on the signs and symptoms of adult brain tumours was published.
Our research contributed to the development of a classification system for brain tumours based on molecular profiling, improving diagnostic accuracy and speed, and enabling treatments to be tailored to patients’ tumour type.
Our first Future Leaders grant was awarded, to fund the future leaders of scientific research into brain tumours.
5-ALA, the ‘Pink Drink’ which helps neurosurgeons see and successfully remove more of a tumour during surgery, became available across the UK, improving surgical outcomes.
The first data were released from the NHS and Public Health England (PHE) into BRIAN.
We announced a £2.8m founding investment for the Tessa Jowell BRAIN MATRIX platform trial, an adaptive research environment providing infrastructure for future clinical trials.
Following the success of our funded programme for children, molecular testing for brain tumours was incorporated into the NHS long-term plan, giving everyone a more accurate diagnosis.
Our yearly income grew to £11 million, more than doubling from £5.1 million in 2015.
The BRIAN app was launched for those affected by a brain tumour.
We contributed to, and are authors on, a Response Assessment in Neuro-Oncology Patient-Reported Outcomes (RANO-PRO) publication, reporting data on a quality of life assessment for gliomas.
The Tessa Jowell Centres of Excellence initiative was launched, based on our ‘National Brain Tumour Standard of Care’ to recognise UK centres that offer excellence in brain tumour treatment.
Our BRIAN app attracted over 2,000 users within a year of launch, and this number is rising.