Dr Paul Bastard's ATLAS team secures funding from Cancer Grand Challenges

Published on 10.03.2026

Cancer Grand Challenges is a global initiative dedicated to identifying the most complex challenges in cancer research. By providing substantial funding, it empowers international, multidisciplinary teams to solve them.

The international and interdisciplinary ATLAS team, coordinated by Dr. Paul Bastard of Institut Imagine, has just secured a prestigious funding from the Cancer Grand Challenges program, worth up to $25 million over approximately five years.

This distinction rewards a major scientific project that tackles one of the most complex challenges in modern oncology: understanding why certain people, even when exposed to a very high risk, never develop the disease.

Unraveling the mystery of this natural cancer avoidance is the central ambition of the ATLAS team.

A Paradigm Shift in Oncology

Traditionally, research has focused on identifying factors that promote tumor development. The ATLAS team is taking the opposite approach: studying the barriers that prevent it. Indeed, there are subgroups of individuals with well-established cancer risks who, despite this predisposition, never develop cancer. The goal is to uncover the biological mechanisms that grant them this resilience, paving the way for new protective strategies.

The Scientific Approach: Investigating Autoantibodies

The ATLAS team will focus its research on the role of autoantibodies in modulating the immune system. To achieve this, researchers are relying on unique human cohorts, including:

  • Centenarians.

  • Individuals who have not developed cancer despite high-risk exposures.

  • Twin pairs where only one has developed the disease.

This innovative approach builds on the pioneering discoveries of Dr. Paul Bastard's team, which previously identified the link between autoantibodies and COVID-19 severity.

"Understanding cancer avoidance will bring us important insights into how some people remain cancer-free, which could guide us to the development of groundbreaking preventive and diagnostic strategies" — Dr. Paul Bastard, Director of the ATLAS team (Institut Imagine)

To carry out this work, the ATLAS team brings together clinicians, advocates, and scientists from eight institutions across six countries. Their combined expertise covers diverse fields such as ageing, early detection, immunology, multi-omics, pediatrics, prevention, and the interactions between infectious diseases and cancer.

Dr. Paul Bastard's ATLAS team is one of five new winning teams this year, representing a total investment of $125 million across nine countries and 34 institutions. This team is funded by Cancer Research UK and the Torrey Coast Foundation through Cancer Grand Challenges.

"Cancer Grand Challenges research and breakthroughs are made possible through our co-founders and visionary partners. Thanks to their incredible $125 million funding this year, we’re able to unite exceptional research teams from across the globe to tackle the most complex problems in cancer today. Together, we’re creating opportunities for bold team science that could redefine what’s possible for people affected by cancer” — Dr. David Scott, Director of Cancer Grand Challenges

For more information and to view the full list of winning teams, please visit: New Teams Announcement | Cancer Grand Challenges.

About Cancer Grand Challenges

Co-founded in 2020 by two of the largest funders of cancer research in the world: Cancer Research UK and the National Cancer Institute, Cancer Grand Challenges supports a global community of diverse, world-class research teams to come together, think differently and take on some of cancer’s toughest challenges. These are the obstacles that continue to impede progress and no one scientist, institution or country will be able to solve them alone. With awards of up to $25 million, Cancer Grand Challenges teams are empowered to rise above the traditional boundaries of geography and discipline to make progress against cancer we urgently need.
Cancer Grand Challenges now brings together 1,800 researchers and 21 teams from across the world to take on 18 challenges. 

About Institut Imagine

Located on the campus of the Hôpital Necker-Enfants malades AP-HP, Institut Imagine is a european leader in research, care and teaching in the field of genetic diseases. Its unique architecture, designed by Jean Nouvel and Bernard Valéro, brings together 1,000 researchers, doctors, teacher-researchers, engineers and healthcare staff in a single location, with the aim of accelerating research and diagnostic and therapeutic innovation to change the lives of families affected by genetic diseases. Institut Imagine has been awarded the status of Institut Hospitalo-Universitaire (IHU, in 2011 and 2019) and Institut Carnot (2020), and is supported by its six founding members, including AP-HP, Inserm and Université Paris Cité, as well as by private partners and sponsors. Every day in France, 64 babies are born with a genetic disease. Nearly 8,000 genetic diseases affect more than 3 million people, of whom nearly one in two has no diagnosis, and nearly 8 in 10 have no dedicated treatment. Faced with his public health emergency, the challenge is twofold: to diagnose and to cure.

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Institut Imagine