Research Centres of Excellence

Scientists at our dedicated UK Research Centres are working tirelessly to gain a deeper understanding of brain tumours to get closer to a cure.

We provide long-term funding to dedicated Brain Tumour Research Centres of Excellence at key academic institutions. This stable funding enables researchers to deliver on their innovative research which will lead to transformational impact, better treatments and improving outcomes for people affected by brain tumours.

By investing in long-term research, we are building the ‘critical mass’ of expertise needed to accelerate the journey to find a cure. As the teams’ research progresses, they attract increased investment from other sources, allowing game-changing collaborations to take shape.

We have an ambition to fund seven Centres in the UK. We currently fund four Centres:

Imperial College London

The Brain Tumour Research Centre of Excellence at Imperial College London is working to improve the diagnosis and treatment of adults with high-grade glioma, including glioblastoma (GBM), the most common primary high-grade brain tumour in adults.

The Centre has an outstanding 'Convergence Science' research programme that brings together researchers from a wide range of disciplines, leveraging their unique skills to answer scientific and clinical questions that will improve patient survival.

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The Institute of Cancer Research

The Brain Tumour Research Centre of Excellence at The Institute of Cancer Research is studying paediatric-type diffuse high-grade gliomas (PDHGG), a collection of brain tumours in children in young adults which have extremely poor clinical outcomes.

The research team is identifying, testing and validating new therapeutic targets for PDHGG, including diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma (DIPG), as well as developing new drug delivery methods. The truly translational Centre is generating the laboratory data needed to support the launch of new clinical trials.

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Queen Mary University of London

The Brain Tumour Research Centre of Excellence at Queen Mary University of London was established in 2014 and is led by Professor Silvia Marino.

The Centre has two research arms which are working to improve our understanding of glioblastoma (GBM) tumours and find new, kinder treatments for medulloblastoma and diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma (DIPG) in children.    

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The University of Plymouth

The Brain Tumour Research Centre of Excellence at The University of Plymouth is one of Europe’s leading research institutes for low-grade brain tumours.

The team here focuses on understanding why brain tumours develop and progress, as well as looking for new drug targets in low-grade brain tumours, such as meningioma and schwannoma.

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Retired Centres

University of Portsmouth

Our first Brain Tumour Research Centre was established at the University of Portsmouth in 2010 under the leadership of Professor Geoff Pilkington, now a Professor Emeritus having retired in 2019.

The University of Portsmouth now stands alone as a sustainable brain tumour research centre in its own right, having been supported by Brain Tumour Research for its first nine years.