2019 Grant Funding

Thank you for your applications - The Avner Foundation 2019 Grant Funding round is now closed.

In this round, we made available $500,000 in the form of five $100,000 Innovation Grants, which adds to the already $6.2 million allocated through our grants program over the last four years.

While this $6.2 million is a significant amount of money, a lot more is needed to change the 5-year survival rate from its current 9.8%!

Funds raised => Research => Improved outcomes for Pancreatic Cancer

Caroline Kelly, Avner Foundation co-founder and Executive Director said “We are proud to provide the Grants again in 2019 and we are seeking to attract applications from the best universities and research institutions across Australia, with grant applications carefully assessed by our esteemed Scientific Advisory Panel. The funding provided for these grants is aligned to our core mission which is to drastically lift survival rates for Pancreatic Cancer sufferers”. 

In 2018, four projects from five different research institutes across Australia funded by the Avner Foundation attracted extra funding from the NHMRC.

Previous Grant recipients Sean Grimmond, Marina Pajic and Dr Zaklina Kovacevic.

Dr George Sharbeen, a previous Avner Grant recipient says "I was awarded an Avner Innovation Grant in 2015. The funding helped support the identification of a potential new therapeutic target for Pancreatic Cancer as well as the development of a novel nanomedicine (small gene therapy drug) that could be translated to the clinic for the treatment of pancreatic cancer. As an early career Pancreatic Cancer researcher, this funding was critical in allowing me to develop a body of work that helped leverage an additional $350,000 in competitive research funding to continue my research and career development".

Awarding these Grants each year would not be possible without the assistance and support of our ever-increasing network of supporters, including our corporate partners, third-party fundraisers and our those affected by the disease who attend our events nationally.

We would like to thank everyone who has attended one of our "Put Your Foot Down" walks around Australia, our wonderful corporate sponsors and friends who have attended one of our dinners in either Sydney or Melbourne. We would also like to recognise anyone who has donated in memory of a loved one or our wonderful fundraisers, big and small, who have held a fundraiser with us as a beneficiary.

2019 Grants Program

In 2019, The Foundation will award five seed Innovation Grants of $100,000 each with the flowing objectives:

• Support innovative Pancreatic Cancer projects with a desire to increase interest and investment in Pancreatic Cancer research;
• Support established scientists and/or early career researchers to develop preliminary data attract additional funding in subsequent years; and
• Encourage and retain talented skilled individuals in the field of Pancreatic Cancer. The scientific merit of all applications will be assessed and ranked by the Foundation’s Scientific Advisory Panel according to a set of evaluation criteria that promotes funding for projects demonstrating clinical relevance and/or impact. The panel will also oversee the grant application process and ongoing monitoring of the grants.

The Innovation Grant Applications must be submitted by 5 pm on Friday, 19 July 2019 (AEST)

Downloads for 2019 Grants Program

Grant Application Form
Grant Application Guidelines
Grant Application Terms & Conditions