ACRF grant launches Australia’s boldest approach to lethal brain cancers

03 December 2025

ACRF grant launches Australia’s boldest approach to lethal brain cancers

03 December 2025

WEHI has been awarded a $2.5 million grant from the Australian Cancer Research Foundation to launch the ACRF BRAIINSTORM Program – a landmark national initiative that will fast-track new personalised treatments for high-grade gliomas, the most aggressive and deadly brain cancers in both children and adults.

Brain cancers remain the leading cause of childhood cancer death in Australia, and DIPG is the deadliest tumour type.

In adults, the initiative will target glioblastoma, which claims 65% of all brain cancer deaths and still has no effective long-term treatment.

The BRAIINSTORM program is co-led by Professor Misty Jenkins AO and Dr Jim Whittle, WEHI laboratory heads and co-heads of Research Strategy at The Brain Cancer Centre.

At a glance

A $2.5m ACRF grant will help WEHI establish a landmark program that will accelerate the development of innovative brain cancer therapies.

BRAIINSTORM is a bold new national initiative that brings together artificial intelligence, immunotherapy, and cutting-edge engineering to tackle high-grade gliomas – the most lethal form of brain cancer in children and adults.

The program hopes to accelerate drug discovery for this notoriously hard-to-treat cancer through the development of personalised drugs and cell therapies.

BRAIINSTORM – BRinging AI and Immunotherapy for Neuro-oncology together – will create a complete end-to-end pipeline: from AI-powered drug discovery and cutting-edge laboratory models, through to a new dedicated clean room where personalised cell therapies will enable affordable and timely delivery of novel treatments to Australian brain cancer patients.

This agile, point-of-care approach will dramatically speed up the journey from breakthrough idea to first-in-human clinical trials.

Professor Misty Jenkins AO, Head of WEHI’s Brain Cancer Immunotherapy Lab, said: “We are incredibly grateful to the Australian Cancer Research Foundation for this generous investment in the BRAIINSTORM Program.

“This funding will supercharge our efforts to develop desperately-needed new treatments for brain cancer, one of the most devastating and under-researched diseases in Australia.

“By bringing together cutting-edge technologies and a national team of experts, BRAIINSTORM will help us move promising therapies from the lab to the clinic faster than ever before – giving real hope to patients and families who need it most.”

An infographic depicts the process flow of the BRAIINSTORM ACRF Program, a program to accelerate new personalised treatments for brain cancer

Kerry Strydom, CEO at ACRF, says currently, time is the enemy for families facing DIPG or glioblastoma and BRAIINSTORM could change that.

“High-grade gliomas have defied treatment for decades,” she said.

“The ACRF BRAIINSTORM Program is the most ambitious and comprehensive Australian effort ever mounted against them.

“It has the potential to deliver the first genuinely effective new therapies for DIPG and glioblastoma in a generation, and to save hundreds of young lives every year.

“The Program will give Australian patients access to tomorrow’s therapies today. This program is about the potential of turning the impossible into the possible and giving children and adults a real chance to overcome these devastating cancers.”

Photo of Professor Ken Smith and Professor Misty Jenkins AO side by side, holding a framed certificate — WEHI Director Professor Ken Smith and Professor Misty Jenkins AO at the ACRF awards ceremony where the BRAIINSTORM grant was officially announced.

BRAIINSTORM is led by The Brain Cancer Centre in collaboration with WEHI and the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre.

The Brain Cancer Centre, founded by Carrie’s Beanies 4 Brain Cancer, has provided $2.3m over four years in pre-seed funding, which has been instrumental in helping to establish BRAIINSTORM and the collaborative model underpinning the program.

The program will open in 2026. For more information visit acrf.com.au

—

Header image: Dr Jim Whittle and Professor Misty Jenkins AO are co-leading the landmark BRAIINSTORM program.