Pioneer Award
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Our Pioneer Award funds innovative, higher risk ideas, from any discipline, that could revolutionise our understanding of cancer.
Individuals or teams, from any background, including commercial organisations, can apply. We welcome applications from, but not limited to:
We welcome early-stage ideas from any discipline, from basic science to technology development – including, but not limited to:
You don’t need supporting data to back up your idea – we’re interested in its potential.
Read more details about the award in the application guidelines (PDF).
If you are a commercial applicant, read the supplementary information (PDF).
Submit your idea
Committee shortlists
You pitch your idea
We fund up to £200,000
Find out more about what we will and won’t fund.
Discover more about the types of research projects that we’re looking for in these videos from three of our recently funded researchers.
Dr Katiuscia Bianchi
Messing with cancer’s metabolism
Dr Serena Nik-Zainal
Mutations, maps and meaningful treatment
Professor Alastair Watson
A bacterial mystery
Read about the full portfolio of funded awards on our Science Update blog.
Microbubbles, a cancer cell shape sorter, and artificial intelligence: Projects funded in March 2016
Palladium metal, Charles Darwin and Salmonella: Projects funded in November 2015
General contact
For queries regarding scientific remit, please contact
Dr Flora Scott
Tel: +44 (0) 20 3469 5532
For queries regarding patent and IP considerations, please contact
Laura Dickens
Tel: +44 (0) 20 3469 6359
Organisation: CRUK Cambridge Institute, University of Cambridge
Discipline: Molecular cancer biology
Expertise: RNAi, cancer, non-coding RNAs
Professor Greg Hannon chairs the Pioneer Award Committee. His lab recently relocated to the CRUK Cambridge Institute after more than 20 years at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory in New York. Greg’s extensive experience and pioneering work in cancer research (he works on RNA interference, a process that controls how genes are switched on or off) means he is ideally placed to lead the Committee as they seek out novel ideas that could break ground in tackling cancer. He has been elected to the US National Academy of Sciences and he was awarded a MERIT Award from the NIH’s National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS).
Organisation: New Wave Ventures
Discipline: Venture Capital, Diagnostics and therapeutic devices
Expertise: Early stage healthcare companies and technology commercialisation
Dr Ian George is vice-chair of the Pioneer Award Committee. He is Chief Scientific Officer (CSO) of New Wave Ventures, a privately owned venture capital that invests in companies with development potential. Ian brings extensive experience in the development of early stage biotech companies and technology commercialisation, helping the Committee identify paradigm-shifting ideas and emerging approaches to cancer prevention, detection, diagnosis and treatment.
Title: Group leader of the Immune Regulation and Tumour Immunotherapy Group
Discipline: Cancer immunology
Expertise: Immune regulation and tumour immunotherapy
Dr Sergio Quezada is head of the immune regulation and tumour immunotherapy group at the University College London (UCL) Cancer Institute. Sergio’s group focuses on understanding the role of the body’s immune system in cancer, a promising area of research, offering fertile ground for further work and inspiration for new approaches to diagnostics and treatment.
Sergio has been awarded the John W. Strohbern Medal for excellence in biomedical research and the Cancer Research Institute (CRI-New York) investigator Award.
Title: Group leader of the Dynamical Cell Systems Team
Discipline: Cancer biology
Expertise: Cell systems, morphology, dynamic cell systems
Dr Chris Bakal is group leader of the Dynamical Cell Systems Team at The Institute of Cancer Research, London, which is funded by a CRUK Programme Foundation Award. His team carries out groundbreaking research into understanding the way cancer cells change shape and spread throughout the body. He has consolidated his extensive knowledge of basic cell biology and communication systems, integrating computational technologies to provide a holistic and system-level understanding of cancer. His approach reflects the sort of multidisciplinary activity that the Pioneer Award hopes to attract.
Organisation: Newcastle University Business School
Discipline: Behavioural Science
Expertise: Consumer behaviour/psychology, advertising, healthcare marketing
Professor Danae Manika is a Professor of Marketing at Newcastle University Business School. Danae brings to the Committee expertise in consumer psychology, health marketing communications and advertising. Her interest in tackling health and environmental issues from a behaviour change and communications perspective will help the Committee recognise innovative ideas in population research.
Organisation: AstraZeneca / Addenbrooke’s Hospital Cambridge
Discipline: Clinician, cancer genomics, drug resistance
Expertise: Personalised cancer medicine, cancer genomics, computational biology
Dr Ultan McDermott is Chief Scientist in Oncology at AstraZeneca and a medical oncologist at Addenbrooke’s Hospital in Cambridge. Ultan has a lifelong interest in exploring the complexities of how and why some people with cancer don’t respond to specific drugs – in particular carrying out genetic screens in different cancers to explore routes for developing personalised medicines. His clinical experience provides the Committee with critical understanding of experimental design with a patient-focus.
Organisation: University College London (UCL)
Discipline: Bioengineering
Expertise: 3D in vitro modelling, biomimetic tissues
Dr Umber Cheema is a senior lecturer in tissue engineering at the UCL Division of Surgery and Interventional Science. Umber brings an extensive understanding of biomimetic engineering, which she has recently applied to the development of a reproducible 3D model of solid tumour growth.
She has collaborated with medical physicists, materials scientists and mathematical modellers, as well as industrial partners including Oxford Optronix and Sartorius. Her experience of working across disciplines and applying engineering to a biomedical context will help the committee identify promising projects at the interface between the physical and life sciences.
Organisation: Owlstone Nanotech
Discipline: Nanotechnology
Expertise: Industry, development and application of detection (nano-) technology, medical devices
Mr Billy Boyle is Co-Founder and President at Owlstone Nanotech, a company that develops microchip sensors that can be programmed to detect chemicals at very low quantities. One of Owlstone’s projects was the lung cancer indicator detection (LuCID), which is a breathalyser to diagnose lung cancer. Billy has experience in business development and the creation and realisation of new technologies and Intellectual Property (IP).
Organisation: CRUK Beatson Institute
Discipline: Cancer cell biology
Expertise: Integrin cell biology, invasion, metastasis
Professor Jim Norman is a senior group leader of the Integrin Cell Biology team at the CRUK Beatson Institute. Jim’s research focuses on a group of adhesion receptors that control the growth, migration and development of cancer cells. His understanding of basic cell biology provides crucial expertise to help the Committee judge applications which are grounded in solid biology.
Professor Greg Hannon
Group leader, CRUK Cambridge Institute
Dr Ian George
Chief Scientific Officer, New Wave Ventures
Dr Sergio Quezada
Group leader, UCL Cancer Institute
Dr Chris Bakal
Group leader, The Institute of Cancer Research
Professor Danae Manika
Professor of Marketing, Newcastle University
Dr Ultan McDermott
Chief Scientist, AstraZeneca
Dr Umber Cheema
Senior lecturer in tissue engineering, UCL
Billy Boyle
Co-Founder and President, Owlstone Nanotech
Professor Jim Norman
Senior group leader, CRUK Beatson Institute
Pioneer Award
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