The Australian Government has announced nearly $20 million in new funding to support research into childhood brain cancers.

The funding, delivered through the Medical Research Future Fund’s 2024 Paediatric Brain Cancer Research grants, aims to improve treatment options and survival rates for young Australians.  

“Research is a key weapon in our unrelenting fight against [Diffuse Intrinsic Pontine Glioma] DIPG and childhood brain cancer,” said Minister for Health and Aged Care, Mark Butler. 

“This funding is a testament to all the families that have been impacted by DIPG and their relentless advocacy.”  

The funding will help establish a national clinical trial consortium with $14 million allocated for this purpose, while $6 million will support early-stage research to better understand brain cancer and develop new treatments.  

Monash University has received $2 million to develop therapies targeting genetic mutations in high-grade gliomas, including DIPG, alongside $14 million for a project called CoACT-Brain Cancer, which will connect Australian children with some of the world’s most promising clinical trials. 

The University of Newcastle secured $2 million to explore AI-driven treatment regimens for diffuse midline glioma, while the University of Western Australia received $1.1 million to develop safer, more effective therapies for rare brain cancers in infants.  

This announcement builds on the government’s 2024 move to provide access to ONC201, an experimental drug targeting DIPG. 

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