Leukaemia Foundation National Research Strategy (2025 -2028)
From research to care: Shaping the future of blood cancer
A future free from the burden of blood cancer
The Leukaemia Foundation envisions a future free from the burden of blood cancer, where every person has access to effective treatment and compassionate care. We are committed to rigorous, inclusive research that drives early detection, personalised treatments, and equitable access, ensuring advances translate into real-world impact. Our goal is not only survival but empowering people with blood cancer to live longer, healthier lives and to thrive throughout and beyond their treatment journey.
Goal: Driving progress through research investment and collaboration to save and improve the lives of people living with blood cancer
The Leukaemia Foundation aims to lead Australia’s efforts in funding and facilitating research that drives lasting change across all aspects of blood cancer, from advancing innovative diagnostics and treatments to strengthening survivorship care and ensuring discoveries benefit all people, including historically underserved populations. Guided by the Research Roadmap for Blood Cancer Report, particularly its focus on early detection, personalised medicine, equitable access, and translating evidence into practice – we invest strategically to advance science, promote innovation, and expand access to effective therapies.
By championing collaboration and addressing the unique challenges faced by rural, remote, and underrepresented communities, we work to bridge the gap between scientific discovery and real-world impact, so no person is left behind. Together with our partners, we are driving systemic, long-term change toward a future free from the burden of blood cancer.
The role of research in ending blood cancer
Research is the backbone of medical progress, and in blood cancer it is essential for advancing understanding, diagnosis, treatment, and survivorship. Blood cancers are complex diseases, and while some subtypes have benefited from scientific breakthroughs, others remain difficult to treat and are linked to poor outcomes, emphasising the need for ongoing scientific and clinical innovation. At the same time, inequitable access to care and clinical trials persists, particularly for people in regional and rural areas, First Nations communities, and culturally and linguistically diverse populations. Long-term treatment effects can also significantly impact quality of life. By addressing these challenges, we aim to support research that delivers meaningful, equitable improvements for everyone affected by blood cancer.
What this means for patients, carers and families
- Earlier and more accurate diagnoses
- Access to emerging and personalised therapies
- Less toxic and more effective treatment options
- Culturally safe and equitable access
- Improved quality of life and survivorship
Our core research principles
- Impact driven investment
- Collaboration and partnerships
- Equity
- Innovation
Our strategic research investment priorities
Research that translates findings into everyday clinical practice, addresses barriers to care, improves access to underserved populations, and informs policy and training for health care professionals.
Enhancing support (training and resources) to primary and community health care sectors, development of faster, more accurate and less invasive diagnostic tests, and research into environmental, genetic, and treatment-related risk factors to inform early detection and prevention strategies.
Support the discovery and optimisation of new treatments and personalised approaches and invest in research that evaluates and refines how care is delivered to ensure it is patient-centred, coordinated, and effective.
Research funding mechanisms
We will employ a range of funding mechanisms to support the Program’s strategic goals. These funding schemes include:
By investing in emerging researchers at the formative stages of their careers, we create the conditions for the next generation of scientific leaders to flourish – leaders whose work will shape the understanding, diagnosis, treatment, and survivorship outcomes for people affected by blood cancer. Inclusive of the PhD Scholarship Program and Early-Career Investigator Grants.
These grants are designed to drive transformative change in the prevention, diagnosis, treatment, and survivorship outcomes of people affected by blood cancer. Strategic Research Projects frequently focus on critical gaps in current knowledge-areas where a lack of evidence limits clinical decision-making or patient care. They also target underexplored or underfunded areas of unmet need, accelerating progress where it is most urgently required. Projects must align with Leukaemia Foundation’s three strategic research priorities which include implementation science, prevention, early detection and diagnostics, and treatments and therapies.
These grants provide essential support for projects in the initial phases of development, enabling researchers to generate pilot data, test novel hypotheses and proof-of-concept, and explore unconventional or high-risk ideas that have the potential to lead to transformative breakthroughs. They encourage scientific creativity at its inception-providing a springboard for pioneering research that may not yet meet the eligibility criteria for larger, traditional funding schemes
These grants represent a strategic and collaborative approach to advancing blood cancer research by uniting the resources, expertise, and shared vision of the Leukaemia Foundation with those of aligned organisations and institutions. By joining forces, Partnership Grants reduce duplication, build stronger relationships across the research ecosystem, and ensure that investment is directed toward high-priority areas of unmet need.
Our commitment to a better future
We remain committed to research as the most powerful tool in the fight against blood cancer, driving advances in treatments and therapeutic approaches, and through our National Research Program we will continue to mobilise leading scientific expertise, elevate patient voices, and channel community support into research that makes a real-world difference.
Our focus is not only on funding discoveries but on improving survival, enhancing quality of life, and ensuring equitable access to care. With bold ambition, strong collaboration, and an unwavering commitment to equity and excellence, each investment moves us closer to a future where blood cancer no longer holds power over lives. We stand firm in funding research that brings hope, delivers answers, and ensures survival is not just possible but expected, because together, through research and collective commitment, we can and will beat blood cancer.
Grant opportunities will be announced on our website.
For more information, please contact our research team at [email protected],au.