When you donate to the Cancer Society, one of the places those donations go is to support world-class cancer research.
The Cancer Society is a major funder of cancer research in Aotearoa New Zealand. This includes research into treatments, early detection and improving quality of life for those going through cancer and their whānau.
The research we fund includes:
- Developing new treatments for breast cancer - Zimei Wu
- Investigating new ways to make cancer drugs - Alistair Brown
- Investigating prehabilitation for people in cancer treatment - Hanna van Waart
- Improving end of life care for those with life-limiting cancer - Jessica Young
- Improving quality of life after treatment - Anna Miles
- Developing a vaccine to enhance treatment of liver cancer - Olivia Burn
Read about more of our researchers here
We are dedicated to improving equity in cancer outcomes, and recognising the lack of Māori cancer researchers in Aotearoa, we aim to build a Māori cancer research workforce.
As part of our Te Tiriti o Waitangi-based partnership with Hei Āhuru Mōwai, we are funding Māori postgraduate students to research to address Māori health inequities.
This research includes:
- Understanding the experiences and unique contributions of Māori cancer nurses - Stella Williams-Terei
- Integrating traditional and complementary approaches to breast cancer for wāhine Māori - Maria Marama
- Understanding the acceptability and applicability of CAR-T cell therapy in whānau Māori - Danielle Sword
Read about our Māori Cancer Researcher Award recipients here
Meet our researchers
Dr Annika Seddon's work is focused on potential treatments for the aggressive blood cancer acute myeloid leukaemia, which has poor survival rates, particularly in older adults.
Dr Arthur Morley-Bunker is leading a project researching the use of digital pathology and AI for the detection of DNA microsatellite instability in New Zealand colorectal patients, to detect cancer and even predict genomic changes which lead to it.
Dr Citra Praditi's Cancer Society-funded work is investigating how external factors such as Vitamin C could be an effective complimentary therapy for melanoma, by examining its potential role in the cellular changes involved in resistance to cancer treatment.
Jayde Ngata's research is examining how certain bacteria within colorectal tumours may influence tumour immune responses, and how these bacteria could be used to improve the efficacy of immunotherapies.
In August of 2024, we invited some of our researchers to share a little about their research ahead of Daffodil Day.
We are pleased to announce the recipients of the National Research Grant Round 2023
We are pleased to announce the recipients of the Māori Cancer Researcher Awards 2023.
The Cancer Society funds PhD scholarships, Cancer Research Centres and individual research programme…