Funding The Next Generation Of Leaders In Childhood Cancer

We’ve joined forces with University of Birmingham and The Azaylia Foundation in the UK’s fight against childhood cancer. 

Five new cases of childhood cancer are diagnosed every day, yet it receives less than 3% of all cancer research funding.  

Committed to advancing early diagnosis and new treatments for children with cancer in the UK, together with University of Birmingham, we’re the proud founding partners of The Azaylia Childhood Cancer PhD Fund, supporting the next generation of clinical research scientists. 

This fund has enabled paediatric oncology clinicians to take their insights and ideas into the laboratory and back into clinical practice, allowing them to be at the forefront of what’ is possible in cancer diagnosis and treatment.  

In total, we’re proud to have co-funded four Azaylia Childhood Cancer PhD candidates here in Birmingham, worth over £560,000. A total which has been match-funded by The Azaylia Foundation. 

With this much-needed investment, we’re attracting the next generation of research scientists,  to complete groundbreaking, world-class research into the early diagnosis of childhood cancer and more importantly, find new and gentler treatments to improve survival rates for young cancer patients in Birmingham across the UK. 

Katie is one of the four Azaylia PhD Scholars working at our hospital and with University of Birmingham. Watch here to see what Katie hopes to achieve with her incredible PhD research. 

The Azaylia Foundation was created in memory of Ashley Cain and Safiyya Vorajee’s beautiful daughter, Azaylia Diamond Cain, who passed away from leukaemia in August 2021.