OVERVIEW:
International evidence shows patients have better outcomes on a clinical trial but unfortunately, due to our small population, Australian patients are rarely included in blood cancer trials. It is therefore imperative that clinical trials are initiated here in Australia.
As a charitable organisation focused on ‘making hope real’ for Australians with blood cancers, we are strategically focused on satisfying a real need that is not currently being addressed effectively:-
- To bring next-generation, cutting-edge treatments to Australian blood cancer patients faster.
WHAT WE FUND:
The Snowdome Foundation works with world-leading Australian blood cancer researchers to identify and prioritise key opportunities to ‘enable’ clinical trials to commence.
During Snowdome’s formative years, Snowdome worked closely with the Victorian Epigenetics Group (VEG) to fund epigenetic research across a consortium of Victorian hospitals. This consortium worked together on trials across all age groups and included patients from other states in Australia.
While Snowdome continues to support VEG, we have now broadened our funding principles beyond epigenetics. As an example, we have been able to support funding of $4 million for the Centre for Research Excellence in Myeloma at the Victorian Comprehensive Cancer Centre/University of Melbourne. This genomic based project is a cutting-edge approach to personalised medicine. Snowdome support has contributed multi-year funding for a Project Leader, Project Officer and Bioinformatics infrastructure.
Since formation, the Snowdome Foundation has achieved success in funding critical human infrastructure over multiple years to deliver clinical trials, innovative biomarkers and genomics based projects to ensure this Australian-based innovative research can run to completion. This ensures patients receive the full benefit from this next-generation research.
GRANTING HIGHLIGHTS:
Since 2010, the Snowdome Foundation has extended 23 grants representing over $8 million to Australian researchers. Almost 80% of Snowdome’s available funds have been fast-tracked into cutting-edge research. Please click here to learn more.
FUNDING CRITERIA:
- The grant funding must:
- deliver new therapies to blood cancer patients in the foreseeable future
- involve Australian researchers in Australia
- involve new therapies that are part of the ‘new pillars’ for therapy *
- have quantifiable outcomes and reasonable milestones, set and agreed upon in advance
- encourage research (clinical or laboratory) that identifies patients that are likely to benefit from new therapies (that exist now/foreseeable future)
- NOT be stand-alone laboratory research
- NOT predominantly involve supportive care, psycho-social support, housing, transport
Any researcher in Australia is encouraged to apply for Snowdome Foundation funding providing the research project meets our funding criteria. Please note, we only accept applications during our Snowdome Foundation Funding Rounds.
* Pillars of blood cancer therapy
We recognise that it is a changing environment but in the immediate future we plan to support the following ‘pillars’ of blood cancer therapies (not necessarily mutually exclusive):
- epigenetics – the chemical reactions that switch on/off genes;
- precision (personalised) medicine – matching the cancer’s mutations to a drug treatment;
- immune therapies – boosting the immune system to fight cancers;
- monoclonal antibodies – golden bullets that bind onto and kill the cancer cell;
- pro-apoptotic agents – to make an immortal cell commit suicide;
- targeting the microenvironment – making the cancer cell’s environment hostile to its growth.
