PCR Grant Call Announcements

We are delighted to announce that we will be opening another Racial Disparities Grant Call this year as part of our ongoing commitment to close the racial disparity in prostate cancer.

In the UK, prostate cancer affects 1 in 4 Black men, compared to 1 in 8 men of other ethnicities, and in the US, 1 in 25 African American men will die of prostate cancer compared to 1 in 45 White men. This racial disparity is one of the largest seen out of all cancer types, which is why more research is needed to understand why and provide solutions.

Our next Racial Disparities grant call will be open for applications from October and will be open to researchers in the UK and the US. We will be accepting proposals for social or medical research projects.

This call aims to address some of the key challenges contributing to the health inequalities experienced by the Black community and we welcome proposals from the fields of biomedical and social sciences. While we are interested in the areas of research below, we will consider any research avenue relevant to men with advanced prostate cancer: 

1. The lack of diversity in clinical research studies, the barriers that exist to participation in research by members of the Black community and how can these be overcome. 
2. Research looking at the biological factors that affect prostate cancer prognosis for Black men, including further investigation into what genomic and epigenetic alternations are in order to develop target treatment options or whether Black and White men fare equally on prostate cancer therapies. 
3. If and how genetic screening can be used to reduce the number of Black men being diagnosed with advanced and/or aggressive prostate cancer. 
4. The fears, perceptions and psychosocial impact of prostate cancer in the Black community and how to make public health messaging more appropriate, effective and supportive to the needs of this community.   
5. If and how NHS cancer service experiences differ between ethnicities, and if a disparity in care is found, how it can be resolved. 

Career Stage 

• Applications are accepted from academic or research institutions, or hospitals that are based in the UK or USA. National or international collaborations will be considered as long as the award can be administered through a UK- or USA-based lead host institution.  

• The lead applicant(s) must be based in the UK or USA and at minimum have a PhD (or equivalent higher research degree) and three (3) years of independent research experience. However, if you have less than three (3) years of independent research experience, you may still apply under the mentorship of a senior. We assess eligibility on years of experience, not calendar time since qualification, or on age. 
• We welcome co-PIs on projects and encourage eligible early career researchers to apply in their own name. 
• We encourage involvement from community groups and patients, including as co-investigators and/or collaborators.  
• We are aware that career paths are not necessarily linear. For example, some people may have caring responsibilities, or may have been adversely affected by disruptions caused by the pandemic. If you have an idea that could improve the situation for people affected by prostate cancer, we encourage you to apply to our schemes. We have provided the option for you to provide contextual information on any gaps in your career and/or publishing history, and any impacts of COVID-19 on your research, that you may want us to take into account so that we can assess your application fairly. 
• The project should boost prostate cancer research and build capacity in advanced prostate cancer research. 

Institution 

The lead applicant must be based at a university or research institution or hospital in the UK or US. National or international collaborations will be considered as long as the award can be administered through a lead host institution based in either country. 

Research Strategy 

All proposals must align with our 2024-27 Strategy and should be innovative, solution-oriented and seek to develop recommendations.

Applications will need to include a lay summary of the project. This is important to the application process to ensure that anyone, no matter their scientific background can understand the project and understand the importance of it. Our review process includes a patient panel and so the patients must be able to understand the project fully to be able to assess it.

Find our lay summary guide here for more information.

More details to come very soon.

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