Beanies deliver greater imaging insight for brain cancer researchers
The Australian public and wider rugby league community has stood together in support of the Mark Hughes Foundation to raise $3.8 million across the 2026 NRL Beanie for Brain Cancer Round.
Thanks to this generous funding from the 2026 NRL Beanie Round, the Mark Hughes Foundation Centre for Brain Cancer Research at the University of Newcastle will purchase a unique MRI-PET Imaging Machine that will drive new drug development.
Building on the team’s national expertise in imaging, this new equipment will give the Centre’s researchers greater insight into the tiniest molecules that may hold the secrets to brain cancer.
MHF Centre Director, Professor Mike Fay said he was excited about the game-changing opportunity and what it would bring to brain cancer research.
“We will use this equipment at the centre of a new facility that builds on all the research we’ve been doing, taking us one step closer to better outcomes for brain cancer patients.”
“These MRI-PET imaging instruments are the first of their kind in Australia, and they’re already making great inroads internationally,” Professor Fay said.
“They have the ability to be used by so many researchers in our teams, and in collaboration with teams across Australia – advancing brain cancer research faster than before so that we can ultimately take our work into clinical trials with our patients”
One of the greatest challenges in brain cancer research is discovering and understanding the minute changes that take place in the brain when a tumour is formed.
With this state-of-the-art equipment, teams of researchers at the MHF Centre and across the nation will be afforded insights never before possible that will accelerate research and progress drug development.
“Our team at the MHF Centre are nation-leaders in brain cancer imaging,” MHF Co-Founder Mark Hughes said.
“This new equipment will build on that expertise, and speed up results to deliver better treatments to patients faster.”
The groundworks to establish the facility have already started at HMRI in the Imaging Precinct.
The Pre-Clinical Imaging Facility is set to be up and running in 2027 and a team is being recruited to get to work in late 2026.
NRL CEO Andrew Abdo said the support of rugby league fans had created a lasting impact, with funds raised through the 2026 Beanie for Brain Cancer Round helping support groundbreaking research infrastructure at the Mark Hughes Foundation Centre for Brain Cancer Research at the University of Newcastle.
“The rugby league community has generously stepped up to continue the fight against brain cancer, bringing the total raised over the first decade of Beanie Round to $33.5 million.”
“Thank you to everyone who bought a beanie and has helped advance vital brain cancer research,” Mark added. “Together, we are making a difference.”
In partnership and collaboration with major funders the Mark Hughes Foundation, the University of Newcastle, Hunter Medical Research Institute, National Imaging Facility and industry partners, have made a commitment to a multi-million dollar facility that will be unique in the nation.
Contact
- Linda Drummond
- Email: lindadrummond@newcastle.edu.au
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