The aim of all our programmes is to accelerate a transformative change in scientific research that will lead to better treatments and cures for FL patients.
In choosing what work to do we are solely focused on output and impact. We are rolling out our first three programmes and are looking forward to reporting on rapid progress.
The people living with FL are central to everything we do. The Foundation will link research and clinical communities, together with patients, to help ensure their views and experiences are part of the development process for new treatments.
Our mission at the FLF is to lead new and determined efforts to find innovative treatments and cures for Follicular Lymphoma (FL). In pursuit of this, the CURE FL Awards grant programme seeks to catalyse scientific research focused on FL. By focusing on high-impact studies this programme supports a clear path to clinical trials and the hope of clear benefit and impact on FL patients.
The CURE FL Awards (CUrative Research to Eliminate Follicular Lymphoma), launched in early 2022, is a research grant programme that harnesses top clinical scientists and researchers, from around the world, with the most innovative and exciting research projects, which seeks to accelerate the development of new and improved treatments towards a cure for FL.
FL is a disease that for most runs a course of moving from periods of remission into relapse and back again and most patients experience multiple relapses over the course of their disease which can run for years or decades. For a small number of patients, the disease progresses earlier, and they can face 5-year survival rates as low as 50%. Like many cancers FL is genetically not just one disease, so to find cures will require a range of therapies to help a range of people.
This rests on finding the right drug to be provided to the right patient at the right time.
The CURE FL Awards are a call for transformative projects in areas of treatment that we have identified as being the most likely to deliver rapid progress towards a cure.
The CURE FL Awards (cycle 1) will focus on work in two areas as the most likely to lead to curative therapies available to FL patients as soon as possible: cellular immunotherapy, CAR-T (chimeric antigen receptor T cells) and others, and also targeted therapies, either as standalone treatments or in combination with other treatments.
The FLF is currently scoping the next cycle of the CURE FL Awards. If you want to find out more about the FLF or participate in the next cycle of the CURE FL Awards, please contact FLF at info@theflf.org.
This programme will create partnerships with major and prestigious academic and research institutions around the world with significant skills in FL and in many other disciplines that will build on strong multi-disciplinary approaches to help us achieve our mission to find a cure for FL.
“I believe the Follicular Lymphoma Foundation will accelerate profoundly the time when FL suffering and death are eliminated — and in doing so — deliver curative new drugs for more than 20 other forms of currently incurable human cancers with FL identical genomic targets”
Prof. Jonathan Simons MD, Medical Director and Chief Science Officer of the Marcus Foundation and Trustee of the FLF.
The Precision Medicine Programme is a ground-breaking initiative, mobilising the Follicular Lymphoma (FL) patient community to fuel a targeted acceleration in FL research and clinical development.
The PMP will leverage real-world data, including biological data to promote new directions in FL research and will drive biopharma and industry drug development.
The PMP puts the patient at the centre of what we do, maximising our chances of success in improving the care, and longevity of every affected FL patient.
The goal of this programme is to improve treatment strategies, and to speed up the development of new treatments and ultimately a cure for every FL patient.
The PMP will provide evidence-based aggregate information to doctors and patients which will help them to make personalised treatment decisions. In being able to predict and reduce treatment side effects, it will allow patients to make informed decisions that balance both effectiveness and toxicity. Creating a better understanding of the disease will reduce the time it takes for new treatments to be developed.
Delivering the PMP will accelerate finding a cure. The aim is to develop a precision medicine model in which a person’s specific genomics, immune system and microenvironment are considered to determine the optimal treatments for that patient.
Find out more about the Precision Medicine Programme, its aims and focus by clicking here. If you want to find out more about the FLF and our programmes, please contact FLF at info@theflf.org.
Caitlin Worner (diagnosed 2018)
While the Foundation will support grant programmes independently and in partnership, we also need to try and harness the larger resources available via government and local agencies and other cancer non-profits. The Foundation is international and will initially look to work in the UK, US, Australia, Israel and Europe to advocate for increased focus on FL at this level, encouraging research and supporting agencies to making these efforts as effective as possible.
Please click to read policy on working with the pharmaceutical industry
The FLF will be funding grant programmes independently and via co-funding partnerships.
“We are delighted to be partnering with the Follicular Lymphoma Foundation as we work towards our shared goal of improving the lives of people affected by blood cancer. We welcome their commitment to fund research into this type of blood cancer and want to work together to make sure our combined research spend has the biggest possible impact. Above all, we know that raising awareness of all types of blood cancer and the needs of those affected isn’t something one single charity can do on its own, and it is only by working together to have a greater impact than the sum of our parts”
Gemma Peters, Chief Executive of Blood Cancer UK
