Our advisory committees

The Grants Committee consists of around 30 of the UK’s leading breast cancer researchers. Together, they review applications to our response-mode grant funding schemes (that is, our projects, PhD studentships and fellowships).

They are guided by peer advice from many hundreds of other scientists and clinicians from around the world, who provide specialist written comments on specific applications.

Together, this assessment by the Grants Committee and the external expert peer reviewers ensures that Breast Cancer Now funds research which will have the greatest chance of leading to improvements in the prevention, detection and treatment of all forms of breast cancer.

It is important that our decision-making processes are fair, transparent and free from bias. We are members of the Association of Medical Research Charities (AMRC https://www.amrc.org.uk/), and we follow their best practice for peer review.

Find out about the Grants Committee members (PDF).

For any queries about the Grants Committee, please contact our Research Funding team grants_admin@breastcancernow.org.

The SSC was established to provide expert scientific advice directly to the Board of Trustees. Members include leading, international scientists. The SSC meets two times a year.

The main purpose of the SSC is to oversee Breast Cancer Now’s research portfolio and its funding mechanisms, ensuring the strategic aims of the charity are delivered effectively. Working closely alongside the Research Directorate, the SSC is responsible for:

• The Research Strategy – recommending Breast Cancer Now’s research strategy; monitoring the impact of Breast Cancer Now’s research expenditure against the research strategy; monitoring Breast Cancer Now’s funding mechanisms to ensure the strategic aims are delivered
• Research Budget – advising the Board of Trustees on the distribution of the annual research budget across Breast Cancer Now’s entire research portfolio.
• Reviewing and advising on scientific progress – including reviewing the annual progress of Breast Cancer Now’s long-term programmes.

You can see all members of the Science Strategy Committee here (PDF).

Read our blog posts on the impact of patient voices in research, and the committee's patient representative, Anna, to see how we keep the experience of those affected at the heart of our research priorities.

For any queries about the SSC please contact us at grants_admin@breastcancernow.org.