The secondary spread of breast cancer, or metastasis, is currently an incurable condition which claims the lives of 12,000 breast cancer patients each year in the UK.

Co-Founder of Against Breast Cancer and former breast cancer pathologist Dr. Anthony Leathem discovered that there was a difference in the sugars (glycobiology) of secondary breast cancer tissues compared to breast cancers that had not spread from the breast.

Today, we are particularly supporting glycobiology research to address the diagnostic and treatment challenges posed in the metastatic breast cancer field to increase the survival rates of all breast cancer patients.

In line with our Research Strategy, Against Breast Cancer fund research in 3 areas;

1. To develop tools for earlier diagnosis of metastatic breast cancer,
2. To develop treatments against metastatic breast cancer, ultimately a vaccine
3. To understand which diet and lifestyle factors impact risk for prevention of metastasis

All applicants and their host institutions should ensure that they are able and willing to adhere to the Terms and Conditions of Grant Awards before applying.

To download a copy of our Terms & Conditions of funding, click here.

Funding Grants Available

Against Breast Cancer offers 3 types of funding grant;

• Seed grants of less than £50,000 and for a term of less than 1 year

Seed grants are awarded for innovative research and can be used for preliminary data to be gathered to support a larger grant application or, if sufficient, for a stand-alone project to achieve a stated goal. Seed grants may also be used to enhance an existing funded project if it can be shown that such funding would add significant value and advance the research.

• Project grants of greater than £50,000 per annum

Project grants are for research programmes of between 1 and 4 years.

• Fellowship funding of up to £20,000 per annum for a 3 year term

The Against Breast Cancer Fellowship programme is designed to attract and support early-stage, non-tenured scientists in their career development towards leading their own group as an independent researcher.

Who is eligible to apply?

Post-doctoral researchers working in institutions in the UK are invited to apply for a grant. All lead applicants should have a strong publishing record. For Fellowship grants, the lead applicant should have graduated with their PhD within 5 years of the grant application date.

Lead applicants should be employed by the host institution (a university, teaching hospital or research institution) for the term of the grant.

Collaborative applications involving researchers or institutions from anywhere in the world are invited, as long as the lead applicant’s host institution is in the UK, and the majority of the research takes place in the UK. If collaborators are included in the proposal, they will be required to provide a letter of support for the project as part of the application.

Against Breast Cancer will consider applications to co-fund research with other funding bodies where the cost and/or term of the research project is greater than those offered by Against Breast Cancer. Industry partnerships are also considered for use of capital equipment and resources otherwise unobtainable by Against Breast Cancer or the host institution.

Applicants and host institutions must agree to abide by our funding policies and Terms and Conditions.

What costs can the grant cover?

Against Breast Cancer relies on public donation and philanthropy to fund secondary breast cancer research and as such, donors expect their money to be spent on the directly incurred costs of research, which includes salaries of staff directly involved in the research, consumables, equipment specific to the needs of the project, travel and subsistence.

Against Breast Cancer will consider funding directly allocated costs on receipt of a strong justification as part of the grant application that will be reviewed by the Scientific Advisory Board, but will not fund overheads, estates and indirect project costs including computing and information support, central services, general maintenance, lighting, heating and other infrastructure costs.

Proposals for equipment costs only will not be considered.

The salary of tenured scientists with a permanent contract is expected to be covered by the host institution.

Against Breast Cancer will cover the cost of publication fees for publications resulting from work funded by the charity as part of a Seed or Project grant, and in line with our Open Access policy. Fellowship recipients may apply to Against Breast Cancer for publication fees to be covered, which will be considered on a case by case basis.

Travel, accommodation and registration fees for conferences where work supported by an Against Breast Cancer grant is to be presented (oral or poster) are covered for up to £1000 for international and £300 for national conferences