Participation of the Institut Pasteur in the multidisciplinary international initiative led by Cancer Grand Challenges

Cancer Grand Challenges is a worldwide initiative jointly founded by Cancer Research UK and the US National Cancer Institute which aims to tackle cancer's toughest challenges. The Cancer Grand Challenges program supports a global community of wide-ranging international research teams so that they can come together, think differently and tackle some of the toughest challenges related to cancer.

A series of $25 million awards empowers the teams participating in the initiative to rise above the traditional boundaries of geography and discipline and change outcomes for people with cancer.

This year, five new global teams were selected to receive up to $25 million each over five years, enabling them to come together, think differently and bring about progress in the fight against cancer.

One of the teams, PROSPECT, is aiming to elucidate the causes underpinning the global epidemic of early-onset colorectal cancer and to develop strategies to tackle the alarming rise in cases affecting young people.

Yasmine Belkaid, co-leader of a working group in the PROSPECT team, will work with her team at the Institut Pasteur to study the long-term effects of inflammation and infection during pregnancy or in early life on tissue stem cells, with the aim of understanding how these conditions are creating an environment conducive to the development of bowel cancer.

The Institut Pasteur is grateful for the opportunity to take part in this initiative, which will strengthen its significant contribution to global efforts to tackle cancer.

Find out more about Cancer Grand Challenges