13 March 2014

PCFA has announced a total of $7.25 million in funding over three years to go towards teams of researchers investigating some of the most pressing questions in the field of prostate cancer.

The Movember Revolutionary Team Awards (MRTAs) are large collaborative grants designed to bring together national and international scientists and clinicians to enable them to work together towards advancing global research into prostate cancer.

The large collaborative grants are offered by PCFA and its long-time partner Movember. They provide funding over three years and bring together some of the country’s most important researchers to take a collaborative approach to researching the clinical management of prostate cancer.

The two winning research groups, selected from a nationwide pool of leading Australian research teams, are:

  • A team headed by Professor Peter Croucher, an expert in bone metastasis located at the Garvan Institute for Medical Research in Sydney. Its research will investigate why prostate cancer cells spread to be bone – what makes them stay dormant within the bone and the triggers that activate them. 
  • A team headed by Professor Colleen Nelson, Executive Director of the Australian Prostate Cancer Research Centre – Queensland, within Queensland University of Technology's Institute of Health and Biomedical Innovation, located at the Princess Alexandra Hospital and the Translational Research Institute in Brisbane. It will look into treatment resistance to the biggest class of inhibitors currently used to treat prostate cancer, Androgen Targeted Therapies (ATTs), with the aim of strategically developing drugs to be used in combination or in sequence with ATTs to improve outcomes in advanced prostate cancer.

Associate Professor Anthony Lowe, Chief Executive Officer at PCFA, says innovative mechanisms of funding such as Revolutionary Team Awards underline PCFA's commitment to advancing prostate cancer research in Australia.

"Together with the Movember Foundation we are able to continue funding crucial innovative and groundbreaking research in prostate cancer. Our aim is to reduce the number of men affected by prostate cancer," he said.

Paul Villanti, Head of Programs at Movember Foundation, said the Foundation was proud to support the largest prostate cancer multi-institutional team science program seen in Australia.

"This investment brings together for the first time the great scientific and clinical strengths that exist across different states and institutions to work as integrated teams to accelerate health outcomes for men diagnosed and living with prostate cancer."