Skip to Content Skip to Navigation

Collaborative
RESEARCH
ACCELERATOR
GRANTS

A new era of breast cancer research

The National Breast Cancer Foundation (NBCF) unites the brightest research minds through the first ever Collaborative Research Accelerator (CRA) Grant, a $25 million investment over five years, to tackle one of breast cancer’s most urgent and unsolved challenges – how to stop the recurrence of breast cancer.

This marks a new era in research investment as one of the largest grants available in Australia and the single largest research investment NBCF has made in our thirty-year history.

The CRA unites national and international leaders in breast cancer research, to accelerate progress towards NBCF’s bold vision of Zero Deaths from breast cancer.

What is a Collaborative Research Accelerator Grant?

The CRA grants were designed by NBCF to ignite powerful, long-term collaboration among leading national and international researchers to accelerate progress towards ending deaths from breast cancer.

As part of NBCF’s Pink Horizon Research Strategy, the CRA Grants will:

  • Solve Critical Questions: Tackle the toughest, unanswered questions in breast cancer that hold the key to ending deaths.
  • Foster Collaboration: Build a dynamic research ecosystem that unites Australian and global experts to pursue integrated long-term, high-impact research to transform outcomes and save lives of those affected by breast cancer.
  • Accelerate Progress: Drive breast cancer research forward at a pace and scale that matches the urgency of achieving our vision of Zero Deaths from breast cancer.
Image of four people standing infront of the Garvan Institute sign
L to R: National Breast Cancer Foundation CEO, Dr Cleola Anderiesz, Garvan Institute of Medical Research, Professor Benjamin Kile, Executive Director, Co-Director of the Cancer Plasticity and Dormancy Program and AllClear lead at the Garvan Institute of Medical Research, Associate Professor Christine Chaffer, National Breast Cancer Foundation Executive Director, Research, Julie Ince-Demetriou
Image of a woman looking into a microscope
National Breast Cancer Foundation CEO, Dr Cleola Anderiesz

AllClear - Push to halve breast cancer deaths

Close up image of Christine Chaffer
Co-Director of the Cancer Plasticity and Dormancy Program and AllClear lead at the Garvan Institute of Medical Research, Associate Professor Christine Chaffer

NBCF’s first-ever CRA Grant has been awarded to an exceptional local and international collaboration led by Associate Professor Christine Chaffer at the Garvan Institute of Medical Research, to drive forward a pioneering research program called AllClear.

AllClear aims to reduce breast cancer deaths by half, by tackling one of the most complex and urgent challenges in the field - how to stop breast cancer from returning.

AllClear program focuses on breast cancer that may have already spread to the bone at the time of diagnosis and aims to:

  1. Identify the ‘seeds’ of relapse early
  2. Develop tools to predict who is most at risk of relapse
  3. Develop targeted therapies to eliminate these ‘seeds’ of relapse before they reawaken and cause metastatic breast cancer.

Why AllClear?

Breast cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer among women in Australia and the second most commonly diagnosed cancer overall, with cases continuing to rise.

Of the 21,000 people diagnosed with breast cancer annually in Australia:

  • Around 15% will experience a relapse (also known as a recurrence) within 10 years, however recurrence can happen even decades later.
  • Despite decades of progress, breast cancer recurrence is a challenge that continues to cost lives. Solving it is essential to ending deaths from breast cancer.

AllClear partners

AllClear is enabled by Garvan’s strategic collaboration with St Vincent’s Hospital, Sydney and UNSW Sydney and is a collaboration of nearly 60 researchers across seven leading research institutes and organisations. This includes Breast Cancer Trials, the University of Sydney, the University of Newcastle, together with world-renowned international partners, including Yale and Washington University, and 11 hospitals across NSW. The AllClear research program integrates the voices of people with lived experience of breast cancer and ensures diverse representation from metropolitan, regional, rural, and multicultural communities.

Collaborating institutions and organisations  

NSW hospital sites

Read more
Portrait of a woman

Adjunct Professor Helen Zorbas AO

NBCF Board Chair

“This Collaborative Research Accelerator Grant is a bold and strategic investment in breast cancer research – international in scope and transformational in impact. As Chair, I’m proud of the National Breast Cancer Foundation’s leadership in funding this pioneering grant under its Pink Horizon Research Strategy. It reflects our commitment to driving innovation, fostering collaboration, and accelerating progress toward our vision of Zero Deaths from breast cancer. This is more than funding – it’s a strategic catalyst for change, a powerful demonstration of Australia’s research leadership, and a vital step toward saving lives.”

Portrait image of NBCF Chief Executive Officer Cleola Anderiesz

Dr Cleola Anderiesz

NBCF Chief Executive Officer

“This inaugural Collaborative Research Accelerator Grant represents a significant leap forward in breast cancer research. By bringing together the brightest minds from Australia and around the world, we’re tackling one of the greatest challenges - stopping breast cancer recurrence. This $25 million investment is a strategic enabler of long-term research, high-impact research. It empowers collaboration at scale, drives innovation, and accelerates progress toward the National Breast Cancer Foundation’s vision of Zero Deaths from breast cancer.”

Read more about the announcement of the first CRA here