Following a new Lancet Oncology Commission, the fund helps health organisations in LMICs and beyond compete for research grants and escape a funding catch-22

LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM, October 8, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ -- Lifebit, a leading provider of secure biomedical data platforms and Trusted Research Environments (TREs), has launched an Impact Fund. The fund aims to remove the technical and financial barriers that stop non-profits and health research organisations in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) and beyond from securing funding. The launch follows a new Lancet Oncology Commission calling for data from LMICs to be brought into genomic research. The Commission says this starts with secure, locally controlled data infrastructure, so patient data can be analysed safely while local researchers and clinicians decide how it is used and shared. It cites Lifebit as an example of how cloud-based platforms can widen LMIC participation in global cancer research. Lifebit’s Impact Fund is designed to help organisations build that infrastructure.

"Securing funding for health research is often a chicken-and-egg problem, especially, though not only, in lower-income countries," said Dr Maria Dunford, CEO and co-founder of Lifebit. "Funders want to see what a programme can deliver before they back it. Institutions with secure computing environments, well-organised data and analysts to work with it can show results, and those results attract funding. Organisations without that infrastructure, such as those in LMICs, struggle to produce pilot results, so they can't win the funding to build it. Many already hold valuable, consented data, including trial data, registries and genomic patient cohorts. What they lack is the initial funding and technology to get started. That's the gap our Impact Fund is designed to fill."

The Commission finds that genomic studies and clinical trials remain concentrated in high-income countries and among people of predominantly European ancestry. Of nearly 48,000 registered biomarker-based cancer trial locations worldwide between 1999 and 2025, only 2% were in LMICs, compared with 81% in high-income countries. Because genomic reference data skews European, patients of other ancestries are more likely to receive genetic results of uncertain significance and less likely to receive results that point to a treatment. Closing that gap depends on under-represented regions putting their existing data to work, which is what Lifebit’s Impact Fund supports.

For three to twelve months, selected organisations get free access to Lifebit's Trusted Research Environment, a secure platform where approved researchers can analyse sensitive health data. The data stays in the organisation's own cloud environment throughout, avoiding the security risks of moving patient information. Recipients also receive expert support to standardise their data, build analytical workflows and connect research sites. When the fund ends, they keep the results, the harmonised data and the workflows, with no obligation to continue on Lifebit's platform.

"Too many genomics initiatives depend on short-term funding, and LMIC organisations have to compete harder for it with fewer results to show," added Dunford. "Our mission is to make sure all health data that could save lives gets used. Every dataset left sitting idle represents patients whose illnesses could be better understood and treated. Funders, governments and industry all have a part to play in helping these organisations take that first step, and this fund is ours."

Applications to the Lifebit Impact Fund are open until 31 December 2026. Applications are reviewed on a rolling basis; decisions are made within 14 business days and there is no cost to apply. To find out more and apply, visit https://lifebit.ai/impact-fund or email grants@lifebit.ai.

Thorben Seeger - Chief Business Development Officer
Lifebit
thorben@lifebit.ai
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