National Zero Childhood Cancer Precision Medicine Program (ZERO)

in Australia is a government-funded initiative aimed at providing precision-guided treatment recommendations to children with cancer and extending to young adults aged 19–25 with pediatric-type cancers. Key details include:

Objectives:

• Deliver ongoing precision medicine treatment recommendations to maximize access to life-saving therapies for children with cancer.
• Extend the program to young adults (19–25 years) with pediatric-type cancers.
• Use cutting-edge multiomics and emerging technologies to provide clinically feasible turnaround results to treating clinicians.
• Inform real-time patient care decisions, including access to novel targeted therapies and treatment trials.
• Assess both tumor omics and germline genomics to identify hereditary cancer prevalence, aiding cancer control and prevention.
• Accelerate genomic, biological, and clinical discovery to identify novel multiomic drivers and drug targets.
• Facilitate industry engagement and attract novel clinical trials to Australia.

Target Beneficiaries:

• Children with cancer across Australia.
• Young adults aged 19–25 with pediatric-type cancers.
• Families at risk of hereditary cancers.

Application Process:

• The program is delivered by the Children's Cancer Institute Australia, the sole eligible organization due to its unique expertise, infrastructure, and networks.
• Non-competitive selection process; only Children's Cancer Institute Australia is invited to apply.
• Applications must be submitted via the GrantConnect portal by the specified deadline.
• Technical support is available for application submission.

Key Features:

• Total funding available: AUD 112,573,000.
• Comprehensive platform developed over the life of the program.
• Integration of tumor and germline genomic profiling.
• Real-time clinical decision support.
• Focus on discovery and translation to improve cancer treatment and prevention.
• Nationwide coverage including ACT, NSW, VIC, SA, WA, QLD, NT, TAS.

This program represents a unique, well-established national effort to improve childhood and young adult cancer outcomes through precision medicine in Australia.