Cancer Grand Challenges has announced the 12 multidisciplinary teams that will compete to take on some of the most complex problems in cancer today.
The announcement follows review of 227 expressions of interest, the most received in Cancer Grand Challenges’ 10-year history. The shortlisted teams bring together leading scientists and clinicians from institutes around the world, diverse disciplines and cutting-edge ideas with a shared commitment to accelerating progress against cancer.
Cancer Grand Challenges has rigorously shortlisted the very best scientific applications — which means that for some challenges we have multiple teams competing, and in others, none that made the cut, ensuring only the strongest proposals move forward.
The below 12 teams will present their innovative solutions to the prevention, detection and treatment of cancer to the Cancer Grand Challenges’ Scientific Committee. Their focus will span six new challenges covering AI-human collaborations in cancer, cancer avoidance, the dark proteome, mechanisms driving mutational signatures, the nervous system and cancer and rewiring cancer cells.
Shortlisted teams have received seed funding to build their full applications and will be interviewed in December 2025. Winners will be announced in March 2026 at the Cancer Grand Challenges Summit, with each team receiving up to £20m to drive ground-breaking, cross-disciplinary cancer research.
Yardena Samuels, leader of shortlisted team DARK MATTERS, said:
"Cancer Grand Challenges has inspired us to ask questions that once felt too complex or high-risk. It has also pushed us to step far beyond our disciplinary silos and challenged us to rethink what is truly ‘discoverable.’ We are honoured and energised to be shortlisted."
Reuven Agami, leader of shortlisted team ILLUMINE, said:
"Speaking on behalf of the entire ILLUMINE team, I am extremely proud and excited that our idea to study the dark proteome has been shortlisted to prepare a full proposal. We are fully convinced that our team of high-end, productive and collaborative researchers and clinicians is committed to providing broad and unique mechanistic insights and clinical tools to address this Cancer Grand Challenge."
Paul Bastard, leader of shortlisted team Cancer Antibody Atlas, 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 collaboration. Seeing people from all over the world row as hard they can in the same direction is beautiful and inspiring."
ENDS
About Cancer Grand Challenges
Cancer Grand Challenges is a global research initiative that is building an elite, interdisciplinary community to tackle cancer’s most complex problems.
Co-founded in 2020 by the two largest funders of cancer research in the world, Cancer Research UK and the National Cancer Institute in the US, it aims to accelerate high-impact research and translate discoveries for public and patient benefit through global team science.
For more information, visit About | Cancer Grand Challenges
About Cancer Research Horizons
Cancer Research Horizons is the innovation engine of Cancer Research UK – the world's largest charitable funder of cancer research. It brings together world-leading minds, bold ideas and the right partners to bridge the gap between academic research and taking drugs to market. It focuses on the tougher, more profound ideas that can lead to true innovation, translating them into effective treatments and diagnostics for cancer patients.
To date, it has played an instrumental role in forming over 90 start-ups. It has helped bring 14 cancer drugs to market, born out of Cancer Research UK's pioneering research. Through these drugs, it has enabled in excess of 6 million courses of treatment for cancer patients across the world.
With access to Cancer Research UK's network of 4,000 exceptional researchers, and £400m of annual research spend, it is a powerful partner in the fight to conquer cancer. By uniting its commercial partnerships and therapeutic innovation capabilities, Cancer Research Horizons is uniquely placed to support translational funding, entrepreneurial development, data licensing and collaboration, spin-out creation, and offer a full spectrum of drug discovery and clinical capabilities.
Every penny it makes goes back into funding the next bold steps, to help bring forward the day when all cancers are conquered.
For more information and to get in touch with the team, visit cancerresearchhorizons.com.