… [Read more...] about Here’s Why More Philanthropic Funders Need to Get Behind Mental Health Research
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Another Major Science Funder Dives into How Climate Change Affects Animal Brains
Why a Top Science Funder Is Centering AI in Its Support for Biology and Life Sciences Research
Why Three Top Science Philanthropies Think Open Source Software’s a Good Investment
We've written before about the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative's grantmaking for the development of open source software to better enable and advance science research. CZI has been, if not alone, the highest-profile philanthropic funder of these unsung … [Read more...] about Why Three Top Science Philanthropies Think Open Source Software’s a Good Investment
How a New Philanthropy Advisory Firm Aims to Drive Science and Tech Innovation
Philanthropists and foundation professionals focused on science and technology often cite as one of the sector's key strengths its flexibility and willingness to fund out-of-the-box ideas, novel but potentially valuable research that can't land more … [Read more...] about How a New Philanthropy Advisory Firm Aims to Drive Science and Tech Innovation
What’s Next for the Paul G. Allen Family Foundation?
Centibillionaires Bill Gates and Steve Ballmer might be the richest philanthropists minted at Microsoft, but there’s another such figure whose philanthropic legacy is still very much evolving – even though he passed away in 2018. The late Paul G. … [Read more...] about What’s Next for the Paul G. Allen Family Foundation?
Neuroscience Funders Are Moving in Unexpected Directions: Three Boundary-Pushing Initiatives
All scientific disciplines are advancing, but few so fast and with such potential to impact our lives as the field of neuroscience. That's what Dana Foundation President Caroline Montojo told me last month when we discussed that foundation's newest … [Read more...] about Neuroscience Funders Are Moving in Unexpected Directions: Three Boundary-Pushing Initiatives
Jim Simons Gave Billions for Basic Science in an Era of Short-Term Thinking
A Longtime Neuroscience Funder Pivots to Giving the Public a Voice in Research
If you're not a working research neuroscientist, you may not have heard of the Dana Foundation. But you've very likely heard of its founder, the late Charles A. Dana, via the more widely known Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. It was back in 1950 that … [Read more...] about A Longtime Neuroscience Funder Pivots to Giving the Public a Voice in Research
Who’s Backing Archaeological Research? Here are Five Funders Digging Up the Past
Archaeology stands out among the humanities for the extent to which it’s been romanticized and sensationalized over the years. In your typical Hollywood treatment, whoever’s financially backing the work tends to figure in the plot, often bringing … [Read more...] about Who’s Backing Archaeological Research? Here are Five Funders Digging Up the Past
A Public-Private Cancer Funder Backs Team Science and Targets Inequities in Care and Outcomes
A set of sizable recent grants from Cancer Grand Challenges — a deep-pocketed global research funder — puts the focus on two areas of medical research increasingly common in philanthropic funding: cooperative team science and equity in healthcare. … [Read more...] about A Public-Private Cancer Funder Backs Team Science and Targets Inequities in Care and Outcomes
A Family Foundation’s Refreshingly Accessible Approach to Funding Research and Education
At the risk of overgeneralizing, a lot of family foundations tend to be fairly opaque, without much in the way of a public-facing profile. Many do not have websites, post their grants online, publish annual reports and founder’s statements, or accept … [Read more...] about A Family Foundation’s Refreshingly Accessible Approach to Funding Research and Education
How CZI’s Tech Team Builds New Tools to Unlock Advances in Biomedical Research
The Chan Zuckerberg Initiative is atypical among grantmaking organizations for a few reasons. While it makes traditional grants to nonprofits — in areas like education, science, health, climate and justice — it's not technically a foundation or … [Read more...] about How CZI’s Tech Team Builds New Tools to Unlock Advances in Biomedical Research
Can Philanthropy and Government Work Together to Drive Socially Responsible Tech?
Technology, whether in the form of stone axes or cell phones, has always been part of human life and society, for better or for worse. Recently, people have begun asking how technology can be developed such that it falls more predictably on the "for … [Read more...] about Can Philanthropy and Government Work Together to Drive Socially Responsible Tech?
How the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society Is Working to Ensure Equitable Access to Care
In the world of cancer research funding, there’s been a surging interest in equitable access to treatment, a trend we explored at length in our 2023 white paper on the topic. In the first in a series of follow-up posts on the topic, we took a closer … [Read more...] about How the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society Is Working to Ensure Equitable Access to Care
How Two Bioscience Funding Giants are Partnering to Advance Synthetic Biology Research
The Allen Institute and the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative share some DNA when it comes to their approach to research in the biosciences: both are interested in furthering what's called foundational science, the basic knowledge and tools that can help … [Read more...] about How Two Bioscience Funding Giants are Partnering to Advance Synthetic Biology Research
The Biggest XPRIZE Yet Seeks Therapies that Roll Back the Depredations of Aging
If death is our inescapable fate, it's probably safe to say that “old age” would be one of the preferred causes (along with "by chocolate"). But most people would probably also agree that it's not just years, but good health, that matters. To use the … [Read more...] about The Biggest XPRIZE Yet Seeks Therapies that Roll Back the Depredations of Aging
A Major Bequest Finally Puts the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence on Solid Financial Ground
For 40 years, the scientists of the SETI Institute have been scanning the galaxy for evidence of extraterrestrial life, and more specifically, intelligent life. But that’s a tough line of study for a research institute, what with so few philanthropic … [Read more...] about A Major Bequest Finally Puts the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence on Solid Financial Ground
Paul Allen’s Philanthropic Legacy Continues with Funding for a Brand-New Field of Health Research
Since Paul Allen’s death five years ago, the philanthropic instruments carrying on his vision have done so in part through an array of science funding, enabling open research into human and animal biology, and backing research teams and organizations … [Read more...] about Paul Allen’s Philanthropic Legacy Continues with Funding for a Brand-New Field of Health Research
Starting With a Big Boost for Rare Disease Research, This Couple Are Ramping Up Their Giving
A recently announced $17 million gift to the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society will be transformative for the recipient — itself the largest nonprofit regrantor for research into blood cancers. But the gift also signals a new strategic direction for the … [Read more...] about Starting With a Big Boost for Rare Disease Research, This Couple Are Ramping Up Their Giving
After Nearly a Century Funding Science, the Sloan Foundation Is Searching for Answers Near and Far
Now pushing 90, the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation is one of the country's longest-running private science funders, with grantmaking to support a mix of research areas that it believes are crucial to the nation's health and prosperity. This has made it … [Read more...] about After Nearly a Century Funding Science, the Sloan Foundation Is Searching for Answers Near and Far
Why This Texas Billionaire Is Giving Big for Biodiversity Science in the Lone Star State
In an era when climate stressors and human development are driving sudden and sweeping changes to plant and animal life, policymakers and pretty much everyone else will have to adapt. Effective adaptation is going to require the best knowledge and … [Read more...] about Why This Texas Billionaire Is Giving Big for Biodiversity Science in the Lone Star State
As It Shifts Strategies, the Kavli Foundation’s Zeroing in on How Climate Change Affects the Brain
The warming climate is driving all kinds of changes around the globe — and not just in terms of weather, but also in the basic biology of the creatures that live on earth, including humans. Change on this scale is not unusual in the planet's … [Read more...] about As It Shifts Strategies, the Kavli Foundation’s Zeroing in on How Climate Change Affects the Brain
A Local Foundation, a Little-Known College, and a Potential HIV and Cancer Breakthrough
It’s likely you haven’t heard of Touro University Nevada — a branch of a Jewish-sponsored private nonprofit university system with a couple dozen undergraduate and graduate campuses in the U.S., as well as a few international locations. The small Las … [Read more...] about A Local Foundation, a Little-Known College, and a Potential HIV and Cancer Breakthrough
AI for the Planet: How One of the World’s Biggest Tech Firms Is Backing AI-Powered Climate Science
Last summer, as the COVID-19 pandemic settled into a state of relative control, Google.org turned its attention to an even larger and more complex global emergency: climate change. The corporate philanthropy's 2022 Impact Challenge on Climate … [Read more...] about AI for the Planet: How One of the World’s Biggest Tech Firms Is Backing AI-Powered Climate Science
Big Changes Underway at Kavli, Starting With a Program to Aid Scholars Escaping Global Strife
When the Kavli Foundation announced last week the creation of a new program to support scholars whose research, livelihoods and perhaps even lives are threatened by war or other catastrophe, it was a recognition that academics are as vulnerable as … [Read more...] about Big Changes Underway at Kavli, Starting With a Program to Aid Scholars Escaping Global Strife
A Big Gift to UC San Diego is the Latest Philanthropic Push to Better Understand Psychedelics
Psychedelic drugs like psilocybin and LSD have shown real promise as safe and effective therapies for stubbornly hard-to-treat maladies like depression, post-traumatic stress disorders and addiction — in addition to their well-known impacts on … [Read more...] about A Big Gift to UC San Diego is the Latest Philanthropic Push to Better Understand Psychedelics
Moved by a Schizophrenia Diagnosis, This Family Is Channeling Millions Toward Mental Health
The symptoms began when Brandon Staglin was 18 years old and home from his freshman year at Dartmouth. First, there was stress over a recent break-up, then anxiety, sleeplessness and confusion. Later, Brandon began hearing voices and developed the … [Read more...] about Moved by a Schizophrenia Diagnosis, This Family Is Channeling Millions Toward Mental Health
AI Is Suddenly Everywhere, but Philanthropy Has Been Involved for Years. Here Are the Top Funders
Editor’s Note: This article was originally published on July 26, 2023.Artificial intelligence has been advancing rapidly and working away in the background of any number of business and academic applications for decades now. But it’s recently gone a … [Read more...] about AI Is Suddenly Everywhere, but Philanthropy Has Been Involved for Years. Here Are the Top Funders
