Alex Philippidis Senior News Editor Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News

Twelve Organizations that Support Life Science Institutions and Researchers

Even as the number and total value of million-dollar donations to charitable organizations in the U.S. shrunk last year (9% and 17%, respectively) compared with 2013, more of the money that was donated went toward basic research and other health purposes. That funding reached $1.23 billion, based on 95 gifts of $1 million or more in 2014, up 11% from $1.11 billion based on 116 gifts, according to the annual study by the U.K. private bank Coutts.

That’s an encouraging sign for charitable organizations focused at least partially on funding life sciences activity. Those would include the 13 funds and foundations on this year’s List (two more than last year), unranked and listed in alphabetical order, which fund research in more than a single disease, and are known primarily for their charitable contributions to life-sci researchers and their institutions, as reflected in grants and other awards.

Each fund or foundation is listed by most recent year of data availability in all categories sought; total grants paid out that year; a breakdown of that grant activity by disease, program, or anecdotal example cited in public materials; a total approved grant amount where available; and total expense and revenue. Financial figures come from an institution’s annual report or audited financial statement, except where otherwise indicated, such as through tax returns. The funds and foundations listed are among top examples as established from publicly available sources, but do not constitute a list of all funds and foundations.

Burroughs Wellcome Fund

2014, Fiscal Year Ending Aug. 31
Total Grants Paid: $28.542 million
, including:

  • $8.667 million for Biomedical Sciences
  • $5.333 million for Infectious Diseases
  • $4.979 million for Interfaces in Science
  • $1.725 million for Reproductive Sciences
  • $1.725 million for Translational Research

Total Grants Awarded Net of Cancelled: $33.521 million
Total Expenses: $38.861 million
Total Revenues and Realized Gains: $60.384 million

Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

2014 Calendar Year
Total Grants Paid:
$3.860 billion, including $1.923 billion for Global Development initiatives and $1.114 billion for Global Health initiatives, of which:

  • $442.290 million for Polio
  • $326.910 million for Vaccine Delivery
  • $222.800 million for HIV
  • $200.520 million for Malaria
  • $153.840 million for Family Planning
  • $144.820 million for Tuberculosis
  • $134.610 million for Maternal, Newborn, and Child Health
  • $100.260 million for Enteric and Diarrheal Diseases
  • $100.260 million for Neglected and Other Infectious Diseases
  • $100.260 million for Pneumonia
  • $100.260 million for Discovery Cross-cutting
  • $66.840 million for Special initiatives
  • $57.690 million for Nutrition
  • $44.560 million for Vaccine Development
  • $33.420 million for Integrated Development
  • $11.140 million for Life Sciences Partnerships

Total Expenses: $4.944 billion
Total revenues and gains: $13.317 billion

Doris Duke Charitable Foundation (DDCF)

2014 Calendar Year
Total Grants Paid: $63.916 million
, of which $14.389 million went for Medical Research projects, including:

  • $8.04 million over three years in Clinical Scientist Development Awards to 17 junior physician-scientists to support their transition from mentored to independent clinical research careers. Sixteen awardees received $486,000 each; the 17th was co-funded by the Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation and received $261,000 from DDCF.
  • $648,000 over one year to 10 teams ($64,800 each) of DDCF-funded investigators and medical students with an interest in becoming future clinician investigators, to support one-year research projects.

Another $29.049 million in grants were approved 2014 for future payment, of which $4.238 million was approved for medical research projects.

Total Grants Approved in 2014: $38.025 million, of which $11.099 million was for medical research projects

Total Expenses and Disbursements: $91.055 million
Total Revenues: $69.155 million

The Eli and Edythe Broad Foundation (aka The Broad Foundation)

2013 Calendar Year
Total Grants and Contributions Paid during the Year:
$111.693 million, including:

  • $54.091 million to the Broad Institute toward genomic medical research and biomedicine.
  • $500,000 to the Albert and Mary Lasker Foundation toward the Lasker Prize to support biomedical research
  • $140,000 to Mary Hitchcock Medical Center in Lebanon, NH, for inflammatory bowel disease research funding
  • $140,000 to Wolfson Medical Center in Holon, Israel, for inflammatory bowel disease research funding
  • $133,900 to Washington University in St. Louis for inflammatory bowel disease research funding
  • $130,000 to Johns Hopkins University for inflammatory bowel disease research funding
  • $119,951 to Monash University for inflammatory bowel disease research funding
  • $110,000 to Vanderbilt University for inflammatory bowel disease research funding
  • $110,000 to Yale University for inflammatory bowel disease research funding
  • $107,250 to Fondazione Humanitas per la Ricerca in Milan for inflammatory bowel disease research funding
  • $95,000 to Brigham and Women’s Hospital for inflammatory bowel disease research funding
  • $94,780 to Institute of Biology and Experimental Medicine in Buenos Aires for inflammatory bowel disease research funding
  • $91,000 to Alfred Hospital in Melbourne, Australia, for inflammatory bowel disease research funding
  • University of Texas for inflammatory bowel disease research funding

Another grant approved in 2013 for future payment: $108.15 million, including:

  • $100 million to the Broad Institute for general operating support
  • $1 million to the William J. Clinton Foundation for general operating support

Total Expenses and Disbursements: $229,326,610
Total Revenue: $226,699,742

James S. McDonnell Foundation

2013 Calendar Year
Total 2013 Grants Paid:
$27.803 million, including:

  • $8.100 million for Special Interests/James S. McDonnell Foundation Transfers to James S. McDonnell Charitable Trust
  • $6.023 million for 21st Century Science Initiative-Understanding Human Cognition/UHC Scholar
  • $5.203 million for 21st Century Science Initiative-Understanding Human Cognition/UHC Collaborative
  • $1.930 million for 21st Century Science Initiative-Studying Complex Systems/SCS
  • $1.608 million for 21st Century Science Initiative-Brain Cancer/BC Research
  • $1.6 million for 21st Century Science Initiative-Postdoctoral Program in Complexity Science/CS Fellowship
  • $1.35 million for 21st Century Science Initiative-Studying Complex Systems/CS-Scholar
  • $942,838 for 21st Century Science Initiative-Studying Complex Systems/SCS Collaborative
  • $530,000 for 21st Century Science Initiative-Brain Cancer /BC Collaborative
  • $321,450 for 21st Century Science Initiative-Understanding Human Cognition/UHC Special Initiative
  • $130,817 for 21st Century Science Initiative-Bridging Brain, Mind & Behavior/BMB Scholar

Total Payments Scheduled for 2014 (as of December 31, 2013): $17.037 million
Total Payments Scheduled for 2015 (as of December 31, 2013): $17.920 million
Total Expenses and Disbursements: $32.679 million
Total Revenue: $28.177 million

Dr. Miriam & Sheldon G. Adelson Medical Research Foundation

2013 Calendar Year
Total Medical Research Grants Paid during the Year:
$23.700 million, including:

  • $1.774 million to Johns Hopkins University
  • $1.089 million to Children’s Hospital Trust
  • $940,205 to Hebrew University of Jerusalem
  • $759,369 to John Wayne Cancer Institute
  • $713,199 to Dana-Farber Cancer Institute

Total Medical Research Grants Approved for Future Payment: $3.531 million
Total Expenses and Disbursements: $25.301 million
Total revenue: $24.275 million

The Lawrence Ellison Foundation (formerly The Ellison Medical Foundation)

2013 Calendar Year
Net Grants Paid:
$53.838 million, including:

  • $18.229 million through Senior Scholars in Aging award program
  • $9.897 million through New Scholars in Aging award program
  • $127,000 to institutional awardees through Aging Conferences awards program
  • $1.200 million through Senior Scholars in Neuroscience awards program
  • $2.366 million to institutional awardees through other aging awards programs
  • $297,000 to a single awardee, Life sciences Research Foundation, through Other Neuroscience Awards programs

Total Future Grant Payments Approved: $40.704 million, including:

  • $18.333 million through Senior Scholars in Aging award program
  • $14.991 million through New Scholars in Aging award program
  • $3.964 million to institutional awardees through other aging awards programs
  • $2.406 million through Senior Scholars in Neuroscience awards program
  • $480,000 to institutional awardees through the Neuroscience awards program
  • $30,880 to institutional awardees through Aging Conferences awards program

Total Expenses and Disbursements: $55.325 million
Total Revenue: $71,453 million

Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria

2014 Calendar Year
Grants to principal recipients:
$2.461 billion, including:

  • $1.477 billion for HIV/AIDS
  • $585 million for Malaria
  • $411 million for Tuberculosis

Total Expenditure: $2.817 billion
Total Income: $3.181 billion

Howard Hughes Medical Institute

2014 Fiscal Year, Ending Aug. 31
Total Endowment and Disbursements in FY 2014:
$919 million, including:

  • $706 million toward U.S. scientific research and lab construction
  • $128 million toward administration and interest expense
  • $77 million toward science education
  • $8 million toward international research

Total Medical Research Program Expense: $787.415 million
Total Expenses: $1.049 billion
Total Revenues: $2.742 billion 

PATH (Program for Appropriate Technology in Health)

2014 Calendar Year
Total Program Services Expenses:
$227.365 million, including:

  • $108.849 million, including grants of $39.768 million, for Product Development
  • $71.547 million, including grants of $16.148 million, for Public Health
  • $36.893 million, including grants of $12.416 million, for International Development
  • $10.076 million, including grants of $3.539 million, for “research and work toward potential solutions in nutrition, diagnostics, Malaria, vaccines, and other health areas.”

2014 Total Expenses: $276.624 million
2014 Total Revenues: $289.281 million

Simons Foundation

2014 Calendar Year
Total Grants Paid: $ 230.070 million
, including:

  • $79.604 million (34.60%) — Life Sciences
  • $38.008 million (16.52%) — Autism

Total Expenses: $312.672 million
Total Revenue: $427.940 million 

Wellcome Trust

2014 Fiscal Year, Ended Sept. 30
Grants Awarded:
£593.2 million (about $887 million), including:

  • £453.1 million ($677.5 million) for Science (formerly Science Funding)
  • £124.1 million ($185.5 million) for Wellcome Trust Genome Campus
  • £75.6 million ($113 million) for Culture & Society (formerly Medical Humanities and Engagement)
  • £74.9 million (about $112 million) for Innovations (formerly Technology Transfer)

Total “Charitable Activities” Funding Commitment: £727.7 million ($1.088 billion)
Total Resources Expended: £869.8 million ($1.3 billion)
Total Incoming Resources: £338.0 million ($505.3 million) 

William J. Clinton Foundation

2014 Calendar Year
Total Expenses, Clinton Health Access Initiative (CHAI):
$138.346 million, including:

  • $38.264 million, including $8.715 million in grants, for Maternal and Child Health
  • $30.319 million, including $2.451 million in grants, for HIV/AIDS and TB
  • $23.917 million, including $1.749 million in grants, for Global Health Spending
  • $13.618 million, including $802,543 in grants, for accelerating rollout of new Vaccines
  • $12.479 million, including $2.033 million in grants, for Human Resources for Health and Health Systems Strengthening
  • $8.057 million, including $377,849 in grants, for increasing access to high-quality treatment for Malaria

Total Expenses (Foundation): $249.545 million

 

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