| Founder(s) | Sir Peter Abeles and Lady (Sonia) McMahon |
|---|---|
| Type | Non-profit organization |
| Founded | 1984 |
| Location | Sydney, New South Wales, Australia |
| Key people | Tom Dery (Chairman) and David Brettell (Chief Executive) |
| Area served | Australia |
| Focus | High-end equipment purchases and infrastructure development |
| Mission | Funding world class Australian research into the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of cancer |
| Revenue | A$9.2 million (2010) |
| Endowment | A$30.9 million (2010) |
| Website | http://www.acrf.com.au/ |
The Australian Cancer Research Foundation (ACRF) is an Australian not-for-profit organisation which awards grants to cancer research organisations, specifically for high-end equipment purchases and infrastructure development.[1]
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Established in 1984 by businessman and philanthropist, Sir Peter Abeles, he served as its founding chairman. Lady (Sonia) McMahon was a founding board member until her passing in 2010.[2]
A Board of Trustees, composed of some of Australia’s most prominent and influential business people, administers the organisation. The current chairman is Mr Tom Dery, Worldwide Chairman of M&C Saatchi.
The Medical Research Advisory Committee (MRAC) oversees all grant applications and designates which research institutes will receive funding. They can also make recommendations to the Board of Trustees. Membership of the MRAC is authorised by the Department of Health and Ageing with each appointment being three years. The current chairman is Professor Ian Frazer, co-inventor of the cervical cancer vaccine Gardasil.[3]
The Foundation awards grants between A$1.5 million and A$10 million, based on scientific excellence. As at 2011, A$80 million has been awarded to medical research institutes and hospitals in every state and the Australian Capital Territory, for research into all cancers, including prevention, treatment and diagnosis. The ACRF receives no government funding and relies solely on private donations. Unusual among not-for-profit organisations, it is able to legitimately claim that all monies received are directed towards its key objective with every dollar of every donation going to cancer research.
| Year | Amount | State/ Territory |
Institute/Hospital/Centre | Project |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1987 | $1,0000,000 | NSW | Centre for Immunology, St Vincent's Hospital, Sydney | Immune system and cancer defence |
| 1989 | $610,000 | VIC | Cancer Research Centre, St Vincent's Institute of Medical Research, Melbourne | Solid cancers and bone breakdown |
| 1992 | $1,080,000 | VIC | Austin Research Institute, Melbourne | Immune system and cancer defence (breast, ovarian, pancreas, lung, and bowel cancers) |
| 1995 | $1,096,000 | QLD | Centre for Molecular & Cellular Biology, Institute for Molecular Bioscience, University of Queensland, Brisbane |
Skin, kidney and childhood cancers |
| $1,000,000 | SA | Hanson Centre, Royal Adelaide Hospital | Leukaemia and solid cancers | |
| 1997 | $1,000,000 | ACT | Medical Genome Centre, Australian National University, Canberra | Immune system, gene and cancer defence |
| 1998 | $50,000 | TAS | University of Tasmania, Hobart | Immune system and cancer defence |
| 1999/ 2000 |
$1,002,000 | NSW | Westmead Institute for Cancer Research, Westmead Millennium Institute for Medical Research, Sydney |
Skin, breast and ovarian cancers and leukaemia |
| $1,000,000 | QLD | Centre for Immunology and Cancer Research, University of Queensland, Brisbane | Vaccine for cervical cancer | |
| 2001 | $1,300,000 | VIC and QLD |
Australian Genome Research Facility | Microarray |
| $1,200,000 | WA | Western Australian Institute for Medical Research, Royal Perth Hospital | Eight state-of-the-art research laboratories | |
| 2002 | $1,000,000 | VIC | Walter and Eliza Hall Institute, Melbourne | 3D Imaging of proteins |
| $500,000 | NSW | Children's Cancer Institute Australia, University of New South Wales, Sydney | Formation of new blood vessels | |
| 2003 | $1,500,000 | SA | University of Adelaide | Early diagnosis |
| $1,350,000 | QLD | Queensland Institute of Medical Research, Brisbane | Cellular imaging | |
| 2004 | $1,200,000 | QLD | Institute for Molecular Bioscience, Brisbane | Cellular imaging |
| $1,130,000 | ACT | John Curtin School of Medical Research, The Australian National University, Canberra | Biomolecular Resource Facility | |
| $1,100,000 | NSW | Garvan Institute of Medical Research, Sydney | Molecular genetics | |
| $1,000,000 | VIC | Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, Melbourne | Cell Imaging program | |
| $1,000,000 | VIC | Murdoch Children's Research Institute, Melbourne | New children's cancer research centre laboratories | |
| $900,000 | VIC | St. Vincent's Institute of Medical Research, Melbourne | ACRF Rational Drug Discovery Facility | |
| 2005 | $1,140,000 | QLD | Queensland Brain Institute, University of Queensland, Brisbane | Integrated Brain Tumour Flow Cytometry Screening Facility |
| $1,000,000 | VIC | Royal Melbourne Hospital | Translational research laboratory interface (hematology and bone marrow research) | |
| $1,000,000 | VIC | The Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research, Melbourne | Bioinfomatics and tissue banking | |
| $1,000,000 | NSW | Westmead Institute for Cancer Research, Westmead Millennium Institute for Medical Research, Sydney |
New wing increasing collaboration among researchers | |
| $1,000,000 | SA | Flinders University/Flinders Medical Centre, Adelaide | Flinders Centre for Innovation in Cancer Prevention and Care laboratory | |
| 2006 | $5,000,000 | VIC | Melbourne Comprehensive Cancer Centre | ACRF Centre for Therapeutic Target Discovery |
| $1,200,000 | NSW | Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, Sydney | Cell and Molecular Therapy Unit equipment and fit-out | |
| $1,100,000 | TAS | Menzies Research Institute, Hobart | ACRF Tasmanian Inherited Cancer Centre | |
| 2007 | $5,000,000 | NSW | Centenary Institute for Cancer Research and Sydney Cancer Centre | ACRF Centre for Basic and Translational Cancer Research |
| $3,200,000 | QLD | The Diamantina Institute for Cancer, Immunology and Metabolic Medicine, Brisbane | ACRF Comprehensive Cancer Genomics Facility | |
| $3,100,000 | NSW | Children's Cancer Institute Australia for Medical Research, Sydney | ACRF Drug Discovery Centre for Childhood Cancer | |
| $2,700,000 | QLD | Queensland Institute for Medical Research, Brisbane | The ACRF Centre for Cancer Epigenetics | |
| 2008 | $2,500,000 | VIC | Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, Melbourne | For new technologies to identify genes controlling cancer cell behaviour |
| $2,500,000 | QLD | Institute for Molecular Bioscience, University of Queensland, Brisbane | To decipher gene and protein interactions which affect the behaviour of cancer cells | |
| $2,500,000 | NSW | The Garvan St Vincents Campus Cancer Centre, Sydney | To support the research components which will be part of a world-class comprehensive cancer centre | |
| 2009 | $3,500,000 | SA | Centre for Cancer Biology, South Australian Pathology and The University of Adelaide |
To establish a new Cancer Genomics Facility[4] |
| $3,100,000 | NSW | Children's Medical Research Institute, Sydney and University of Newcastle | For the world’s first Chemical Proteomics Centre for Kinomics[5] | |
| 2010 | $2,500,000 | NSW | The Garvan St Vincent’s Campus Cancer Centre (Kinghorn Cancer Centre), Sydney | To extend the 2008 grant to support the research components which will be part of a world-class comprehensive cancer centre |
| $2,400,000 | WA | The Western Australian Institute for Medical Research, Perth | For the ACRF Cancer Imaging Facility to promote innovation in cancer research, and ensure a high quality imaging hub to facilitate world-class cancer discoveries with direct relevance to clinical outcomes | |
| $2,000,000 | VIC | The Walter and Eliza Hall Institute, Melbourne | To expand their two new cancer divisions – the Stem Cells and Cancer Division and Chemical Biology Division | |
| $1,600,000 | VIC | Monash Institute of Medical Research, Melbourne | For the ACRF Centre for Cancer Genomics to facilitate innovative and internationally competitive research that translates to significant outcomes in the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of cancer | |
| 2011 | $5,000,000 | NSW | Westmead Institute for Cancer Research, Westmead Millennium Institute for Medical Research, Sydney |
For new ACRF Melanoma Research Laboratories which will house two internationally recognised melanoma research teams |
| $2,000,000 | VIC | Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research, Melbourne | To develop a new ACRF Centre for Translational Cancer Therapeutics and Imaging | |
| $2,000,000 | VIC | St Vincent's Institute of Medical Research, Melbourne | To expand the existing ACRF Rational Drug Discovery Centre |