The International Cancer Genome Consortium (www.icgc.org) brings together the world's leading scientists, through 11 funding organizations in 8 countries, and aims to catalogue the genetic changes of the 50 most common cancer types.

Australia is making a substantial contribution to the Consortium by tackling pancreatic cancer, one of the deadliest cancers and fourth most common cause of cancer death.

The Australian Pancreatic Cancer Genome Initiative (APGI), co-led by Professor Sean Grimmond from the Institute of Molecular Bioscience in Brisbane, and Professor Andrew Biankin from The Garvan Institute of Medical Research in Sydney, is the Australian project arm of the international consortium.

It is made up of a range of specialists - surgeons, pathologists, nurses - and researchers in pancreatic cancer across the country. The initiative also includes significant contributions from centres across the globe including Johns Hopkins University and University of California San Francisco in the USA, the Ontario Institute for Cancer Research, Canada and the University of Verona in Italy.

The project is being funded through the National Health and Medical Research Council of Australia (NH&MRC), and at $27.5 million it is the largest single grant the NH&MRC has ever awarded.

Further support is being provided by The Cancer Council NSW, the Queensland Government, the Garvan Institute and the University of Queensland.

To find out more about the research of the APGI please visit our website at pancreaticcancer.net.au.