Cancer Grand Challenges: Operations Management Application

Cancer Research UK (CRUK) established its ‘Grand Challenge’ initiative in 2015 to support international, interdisciplinary teams of elite scientists and clinicians to address some of the biggest problems in cancer research.

Following positive and productive discussions between CRUK and NCI in 2019, it was agreed that a partnership would be formed to evolve CRUK Grand Challenge into Cancer Grand Challenges (CGC). The two organisations signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in February 2020 committing to partner in funding four new teams biennially over three cycles.

The partners agreed a number of guiding principles, namely that CGC will:

Tackle important challenges in cancer that require a multi-disciplinary approach to solve, and span discovery, clinical and population sciences; Be developed and shaped in consultation with the global cancer research community; Be international, and enable the best scientists to collaborate irrespective of geographical boundaries;

Provide funding at scale in order to enable imaginative thinking; Embrace partnerships with other funding agencies, commercial organisations and private philanthropists.

The MoU also provided that CRUK would lead on the delivery of the operations for CGC, moreover that NCI would support through an other transactions agreement 50% of the properly vouchered costs per year (including the cost of time incurred by CRUK employees) incurred by CRUK in its role as operational manager, subject to available funds.

This other transactions application/award details CRUK’s responsibilities, specifically coordinating: The challenge-setting process; The two-stage application process for each round of CGC; Meetings of the CGC Joint Steering Committee and Scientific Committee; The release of funding by CRUK and NCI to each participating institution;

Annual and end-of-grant scientific and financial reporting from funded teams; The delivery of an annual Scientific Summit and trainee meeting; CGC advocacy activity; Efforts to market the initiative and communicate its impact. In delivering all of the above, CRUK will work in close collaboration and consultation with NCI.