New US Research Fellowship sees RCD Foundation ‘Arrive’ on Global Scene


Just short of four years after we’ve announced a major US research collaboration that represents another  breakthrough moment for our foundation in the brain cancer research field.

We’ve partnered with the Collaborative Ependymoma Research Network (CERN) Foundation, a major non-profit organisation dedicated to improving the lives of those affected with ependymoma, a rare type of primary brain or spinal cord tumour that occurs in both adults and children.

RCD and CERN Foundation will jointly support a new paediatric fellowship that supports training opportunities for scientists working in ependymoma, with the goal of advancing the science in this area and to encourage paediatric ependymoma research. The new Fellowship will be jointly funded from our US and Australian Foundations.

The new Fellowship will be formally known as the Robert Connor Dawes Pediatric Ependymoma Research Fellowship, and will be administered through the CERN Foundation network.

We and CERN Foundation expect the Fellowship to prove highly attractive to the world’s top paediatric brain cancer researchers. The successful applicant under the Fellowship will be selected by – and work closely with – Dr. Mark R. Gilbert, one of the world’s leaders in paediatric brain cancer research.

Dr. Gilbert is investigator and chief of the neuro-oncology branch at the National Cancer Institute (NCI) and National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS), which are based at the National Institutes of Health (NIH), in Washington, DC.

Here’s what Liz had to say on the announcement:

“The Robert Connor Dawes Pediatric Ependymoma Research Fellowship is very exciting news for us. We very much feel that this is our ‘arrive’ moment as an important global charity, and we’re very proud to be working with partners of the calibre of CERN Foundation and Dr. Mark Gilbert. We feel certain that this new Fellowship can do very meaningful things in the field of pediatric brain cancer research, which is our entire reason for existence. The establishment of the Fellowship is a very proud moment for us.”

Dr. Gilbert agreed that the announcement of the Fellowship was “exciting news” for the CERN Foundation. Dr Gilbert said the Fellowship would fund, for at least two years, a promising post-doctoral researcher “who has the potential to become an important contributor to bio-medical research focused in ependymoma.”

Established in 2006, the CERN Foundation has mobilised an international network of collaborators, and has been responsible for the publication of over 50 peer-reviewed papers in leading medical journals. This body of research has greatly advanced our understanding of ependymoma and has left a lasting legacy for future investigators to build upon.

Today, the CERN Foundation continues to advance ependymoma research by supporting scientific fellowships, clinical trials, sponsoring professional conferences and symposiums, and investigating risk factors for the disease.

The deadline for applications for the Robert Connor Dawes Pediatric Ependymoma Research Fellowship is July 7, 2017.