NCI and CRUK Take on Cancer’s Toughest Problems
Research news: The US National Cancer Institute (NCI) and Cancer Research UK (CRUK) highlighted their Cancer Grand Challenges initiative, a global, interdisciplinary program co-founded in 2020 to tackle persistent, large-scale barriers in cancer prevention, detection, and treatment. The program supports international teams with time and resources to pursue high-risk ideas, and includes a “Future Leaders” component for early-career researchers. Initial teams were announced in 2022, with additional cohorts in 2024 and 2026.
NCI and CRUK outline Cancer Grand Challenges initiative
Type: Research news (not a regulatory approval)
Date: September 21, 2026
NCI and Cancer Research UK (CRUK) described progress and structure of Cancer Grand Challenges, a global cancer research initiative co-founded in 2020 to address fundamental questions that single investigators, institutions, or countries cannot readily solve.
The program is positioned to tackle enduring scientific barriers underlying prevention, detection, and treatment—such as why some tumors become aggressive, and what enables treatment resistance or metastatic spread—through international, interdisciplinary teams with flexibility and resources to pursue “bold ideas” that could open new paths in oncology.
Satish Gopal, MD, MPH (NCI acting deputy director for scientific strategy and development; director, Center for Global Health), stated that NCI and CRUK are “uniquely positioned” to lead this effort and emphasized the US commitment to innovation via international collaboration.
The initiative builds on earlier approaches to stimulate unconventional thinking, including NCI’s Provocative Questions Initiative (2011) and CRUK’s Grand Challenge initiative. According to Dinah Singer, PhD (emeritus NCI deputy director for scientific strategy and development), both efforts aimed to push the community toward novel approaches to long-standing problems.
Program timeline: the first partnership-supported teams were announced in 2022, with additional teams in 2024 and 2026. The program also invests in Future Leaders, providing training, mentorship, and collaboration opportunities for early-career researchers.