The 12 multidisciplinary, global teams are now competing for up to £20 million each, with the aim of delivering breakthroughs that no single researcher, lab, institute or country could achieve alone.
Cancer Grand Challenges is the only initiative of its kind in cancer. By bringing together leading researchers from different disciplines and institutes around the world, global super teams are formed to take on the most complex challenges in cancer research.
In March, Cancer Grand Challenges announced seven new challenges. A record 227 bold submissions were received from world-class teams – from turning AI on cancer to rewiring cancer cells. The teams of Professor Xin Lu, Professor of Cancer Biology at Ludwig Oxford and Dr Ricardo Fernandes, Group Leader at the CAMS Oxford Institute, are amongst the 12 shortlisted teams, bringing together unique expertise and uniting researchers from around the world.
Each team will now receive £30k in seed funding to allow them to come together and develop their full research proposal and compete for up to £20m in funding, empowering it to rise above the traditional boundaries of geography and discipline and transform outcomes for people affected by cancer.
The funded teams will be announced in March 2026 at the Cancer Grand Challenges Summit in London.
Dr Ricardo Fernandes, Group Leader at the CAMS Oxford Institute and co-investigator in Professor Yardena Samuels’ team said: ‘We’re thrilled to be shortlisted for the next stage of the Cancer Grand Challenge. The opportunity to interrogate and discover targets within the dark proteome, a blind spot in cancer biology, is both scientifically exciting and urgently needed. We’re equally excited to be working with such a bold and inspiring team of collaborators.’
Paul Bastard, Cancer Antibody Atlas Team Lead, Institut Imagine, said: ‘Being part of a group with such incredible team members, made possible thanks to Cancer Grand Challenges, has opened our eyes to the power of the possibility of collaboration. Seeing people from all over the world row as hard as they can in the same direction is beautiful and inspiring.’
Dr David Scott, Director of Cancer Grand Challenges, said: ‘The global scientific community responded with extraordinary enthusiasm to our new challenges, with a record number of proposals that push the boundaries of cancer research, from harnessing AI to reprogramming cancer cells. Congratulations to the 12 finalist teams who now have the opportunity to drive the next major breakthroughs in cancer research, as part of this pioneering global initiative.’
Find out more at: https://www.cancergrandchallenges.org/meet-the-finalists-looking-to-take-on-cancers-toughest-challenges