NZBCF Research Fund
The Foundation’s Research Fund was established in September 2001 and is dedicated solely to New Zealand based research projects.
Grants are reviewed and allocated by the Foundation's Medical Advisory Committee. The Medical Advisory Committee is chaired by Dr Belinda Scott, and made up of clinicians across a wide variety of breast cancer disciplines. The criteria for evaluating applications is based on an assessment of scientific merit, feasibility, originality, significance and ability to achieve the project’s objectives.
Research has:
- provided new knowledge in all areas of breast cancer including:
- the benefits of screening and early detection
- better diagnosis and treatments
- shown that early detection of breast cancer through mammography helps to save women's lives
- produced new knowledge of the best way to treat breast cancers using chemotherapy and hormones
- allowed Doctors to better predict how a particular breast cancer will react to treatment and match the most effective treatment to their patient.
Application Process
Applications for The New Zealand Breast Cancer Foundation 2008
Research Award
The New Zealand Breast Cancer Foundation is pleased to invite applications for research funding in the broad field of breast cancer.
The Foundation would be pleased to consider applications for funding for either clinical or basic science research promoting advances in the prevention, cause, diagnosis and management of breast cancer. Clinical research could also include studies examining the consistency of care in New Zealand and possible environmental influences on the incidence of breast cancer in this country.
Funding will be for one year up to a maximum of three years dependent upon satisfactory reports of progress. The Foundation reserves the right to audit progress at first hand.
The award will be up to a maximum of $50,000 annually, however additional funding could be available for research that demonstrates outstanding potential. The award is open to both medical and non-medical scientists (including those considering PhD studies).
Download the application form here: (MS Word format)
NZBCF 2008 Research Grant Application
Applications for this round will close on 1 July 2008 and we anticipate that the award will be announced in September 2008.
Any enquires can be directed to The New Zealand Breast Cancer Foundation - 0800 902 732, by fax (09) 523 4396 or by email
Research Grants Awarded
2007
Dr Janice Royds
Department of Pathology,
Dunedin School of Medicine,
University of OtagoResearch Title:
Genetic Variation in MDM4: A Molecular Marker for Breast Cancer
Associate Professor Brian Cox
Hugh Adam Cancer Epidemiology Unit,
Department of Preventive and Social Medicine,
University of Otago
Research Title:
Risk of mortality from heart disease and lung cancer after radiotherapy for breast cancer
Dr Jo Perry
Liggins Institute,
Auckland
Research Title:
Use Of A Human Growth Hormone Receptor Antagonist To Overcome Resistance To Anti-Estrogen Breast Cancer Therapies.
2005
Dr Gail Tsang
Radiation Oncology
Dr Gail Tsang, a senior registrar in Radiation Oncology at Auckland Hospital, has been awarded $50,000 to analyse the outcome of radiotherapy treatment in about 4,000 breast cancer patients treated in Auckland Hospital over the past few years.
Auckland City Hospital is the second largest radiation oncology centre in Australasia, treating about 500 breast cancer patients every year.
Dr Tsang says the study aims to identify factors that can place patients at high risk of relapse, who need aggressive treatment, and factors that result in high complication rates.
“I hope the results of the study will help Radiation Oncologists to make decisions on clinical practice to achieve the maximum benefit for patients with minimum toxicity, and to help allocate resources to the area of greatest need. Improving treatment efficacy, aiming for a cure and decreasing cancer and treatment related suffering are what we are striving for,” says Dr Tsang.
Dr Jo Perry
Liggins Institute
Dr Perry was awarded a $50,000 research grant from the Foundation to enable herself and the Liggins Institute to start investigating why a substantial proportion of breast cancer patients develop resistance to frontline anti-oestrogen based therapies, like tamoxifen.
Dr Perry recently returned to the Liggins Institute in Auckland, after 12 years working in London and Melbourne. “My PhD supervisor at the Institute of Cancer Research in London was one of the world’s top researchers into hereditary breast cancer, and I am now working with another leading cancer researcher - Professor Peter Lobie.
“I think the standard of research in New Zealand is very high, and I am excited about the development of a specialized group at the Liggins Institute, focused on breast cancer in New Zealand with the primary aim of increasing efficacy of breast cancer treatment.
We believe the production of autocrine, or localized, human growth hormone (hGH) plays a part in this, and our aim is to solve the mystery and come up with a therapeutic strategy, with rapid potential clinical application, to improve the prognosis of patients with hormone sensitive breast cancer,” says Dr Perry.
2004
Associate Professor Christine Morris
Christchurch School of Medicine & Health Sciences
A research grant of $50,000 was awarded to Associate Professor Christine Morris and colleagues at the Christchurch School of Medicine and Health Sciences to explore the clinical and biological potential of a novel chromosomal imbalance recurrently associated with breast cancer.
Christine says breast cancer like other cancers, is a genetic condition that is caused by changes or “mutations” in DNA, the tiny molecule that encodes the building blocks of all of the cells that make up our body. Some women inherit and are predisposed to develop the disease because of genetic changes that are passed on from parent to daughter. However, these inherited forms are rare. Most breast cancers (more than 90%) are caused by genetic changes that are acquired during our lifetime as an individual, occur specifically in breast tissue, and are found only in the cancer cells.
A team of scientists based within the Cancer Genetics Research Group’s laboratories at the Christchurch School of Medicine is applying sophisticated technologies to analyse the genetic profile of tumour samples collected at an early stage from women diagnosed with breast cancer. Research funded by The New Zealand Breast Cancer Foundation extends one component of this wider ongoing study, and aims to analyse in detail the clinical and biological relevance of a novel DNA imbalance that correlates strongly with breast tumour grade. Understanding the biological mechanisms that underlie this correlation may uncover new leads with useful diagnostic and therapeutic potential.
This research could not happen without the collaborative interest of an extensive network of hospital oncologists, nurses and pathologists, nor without the overlapping interests of other research groups and diagnostic laboratories. It is also dependent on access to an efficiently managed Christchurch Tissue Bank. Ultimately, the outcomes of this research will be translated into routine use in New Zealand hospitals.
2002/2003
Associate Professor Bridget Robinson
Christchurch School of Medicine & Health Sciences
Associate Professor Robinson was the recipient of the first grant from The New Zealand Breast Cancer Foundation Research Fund. With the grant Professor Robinson's research team investigated lymphangiogenesis, which is the growth of lymph vessels, and how breast cancer tumours commandeer the blood and lymph supply to grow and spread throughout the body.
"From this research we're hoping to ultimately develop treatments that will both prevent the growth of cancers, and stop the cancer from metastasising (becoming advanced)," says Professor Robinson.
"There have been a number of developments in breast cancer research in the past 10 years, but we need a much bigger breakthrough to improve outcomes for New Zealand women. The grant helps us move towards this goal," she says.
