Non-smoking Lung Cancer Grants Programme
There are 48,500 new lung cancer cases in the UK each year. That’s around 130 people per day who are diagnosed with the disease (1). Around 15% of lung cancer is in those who are non or never smokers (2) and the overall number of lung cancer in non-smokers is on the rise (3). It is estimated that nearly 6,000 people in the UK who have never smoked die of lung cancer every year (4).
At the Ruth Strauss Foundation, we want to bring people together to influence high-quality research into non-smoking lung cancers. Only then can we identify the causes of the disease so that people with non-smoking lung cancer are diagnosed earlier, have access to evidence-based information and better treatments and live longer and healthier lives.
View References
- Lung cancer statistics | Cancer Research UK accessed 19/07/2024.
- Khan, S., Hatton, N., Tough, D. et al. Lung cancer in never smokers (LCINS): development of a UK national research strategy. BJC Rep 2, 1 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s44276-023-00006-w
- Cufari ME, Proli C, De Sousa P, Raubenheimer H, Al Sahaf M, Chavan H, Shedden L, Niwaz Z, Leung M, Nicholson AG, Anikin V, Beddow E, McGonigle N, Dusmet ME, Jordan S, Ladas G, Lim E. Increasing frequency of non-smoking lung cancer: Presentation of patients with early disease to a tertiary institution in the UK. Eur J Cancer. 2017 Oct;84:55-59. doi: 10.1016/j.ejca.2017.06.031. Epub 2017 Aug 4. PMID: 28783541.
- Bhopal A, Peake MD, Gilligan D, Cosford P. Lung cancer in never-smokers: a hidden disease. Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine. 2019;112(7):269-271. doi:10.1177/0141076819843654
RESEARCH CALL
The Ruth Strauss Foundation non-smoking lung cancer grants programme is open from 12.00 on Thursday 1st August 2024, closing at 17.00 on Thursday 7th November 2024. The programme offers small grants (up to £50k) to fund research that supports the charity’s mission in one of the following ways:
- To enhance the public understanding of non-smoking lung cancers
- To enhance our understanding of who is diagnosed with non-smoking lung cancers
- To improve the quality of life of someone diagnosed, being treated for, or living with non-smoking lung cancer
- To improve the process or experience of being diagnosed with non-smoking lung cancer, including achieving earlier diagnosis
- To improve the process or experience of being treated for non-smoking lung cancer, such as managing the side effects of treatment
- To widen access to treatment for non-smoking lung cancer
- To improve how the psychological, information, financial, and practical needs of people with non-smoking lung cancer are;
- met during and beyond active treatment and at end-of-life
- accessed or offered
- and with information needs, how this supports informed decision-making around treatment and care
What we fund:
- Only the direct costs of the research/project will be funded.
- Salary costs for staff leading and delivering the research will be funded, as long as dedicated time is available for the delivery of the research.
- Grants can be used to fund a stand-alone project or research that contributes to a wider project, such as seed funding or pilot work.
- Grants can be used to fund both primary and secondary research (for example, they can be used to review data/outcomes of previous research or existing databases that progresses the understanding in this field).
- Grants can be used to cover the costs related to the research/project over a period of 24 months.
What you cannot apply for:
- The grants programme will not fund research into drug development
- The funding cannot be used to extend the time working on an existing project
- Funding cannot be given to projects where the lead applicant is based outside of the UK
Who is eligible:
Applicants must be employed at a university, NHS hospital, hospice or research institution in the UK. We accept applications from joint lead applicants, and where joint applications are successful the funding will be awarded to a single lead applicant.
Applicants must be able to start their research/projects within 6 months of funding being awarded unless pre-agreed with the charity.
How to apply:
Download and complete this application form and submit it to the Head of Mission Services Deepa Doshi by email at deepa.doshi@ruthstraussfoundation.com by Thursday 7th November at 17.00.
EXPERT WRITTEN REVIEWERS
When completing the application form, we will ask you for up to two names and contact details of experts who can provide a written review of your application. We call these individuals Expert Written Reviewers. We may not use the names you provide, and we may not require an external written review for your application either because the amount you have required is not considered to require it or because we have the expertise on our Grants Allocation Committee (GAC). Please ensure you have not recently (in the last 3 years) worked or co-published with the names you have suggested. We will share the name of the Lead Applicant, host organisation, research /project title and project proposal and total amount requested with a maximum of two independent written reviewers. We ask that you share our Privacy Notice with the two names of individuals you suggest.
Peer Review and Decision making Process
The Ruth Strauss Foundation works to the 5 principles of peer review as set out by the Association of Medical Research Charities, of ACCOUNTABILITY, BALANCE, INDEPENDENCE, ROTATION AND IMPARTIALITY. Please see our Terms of Reference for the Grants Allocation committee that outlines exactly how we embed these five principles.
All applications submitted will be assessed by the RSF Grants Allocation Committee (GAC). The Grants Allocation Committee consists of the members of the Scientific Advisory Group, with the addition of two individuals who are living with lung cancer. They will assess and score each application using the Medical Research Council Scoring Matrix as suggested by the AMRC. The GAC will meet in February 2025 and within three weeks of this meeting, the Head of Mission Services will write to all applicants with a decision of the Committee.
See our Terms of Reference for the Grants Allocation Committee for details on how the committee operates. See below the scoring criteria used by the Grants Allocation Committee.
GRANTS PROGRAMME PROCESS CHART
Please also see below our flow chart which outlines the whole grant process and what happens at each step and by whom.
Membership to AMRC
The Ruth Strauss Foundation is an Introductory member of the Association of Medical Research Charities and uses its guidelines in running this grant programme.
How the research priorities were established:
The Ruth Strauss Foundation collaborated with Prof Virginia Harrison from the Open University to create a survey that asked lung cancer specialists what aspects of lung cancer research were most important and what were most feasible to complete with a grants programme offering up to £50,000 per project.
The following areas were identified as scoring highly on both dimensions and thus laid the foundations for establishing RSF’s research priorities for this grants programme:
- Patient care and survivorship issues (including quality of life, psychological and physical symptoms, and impact on family and finances)
- Wellbeing interventions/approaches to promote psychological adjustment to the diagnosis of cancer and treatment effects
- End-of-Life Care
- Development or analysis of health service provision, policy or practice
- Influence of behavioural and social factors on cancer control, outcomes and treatment
- Education and communication for cancer control
- Complementary approaches for supportive care of patients and survivors
