Brain Research

The latest in Denny Sanford’s string of big gifts finds the credit card billionaire underwriting a new institute at University of California San Diego to research empathy and reshape medical training to benefit doctors and patients.

Psychedelics have reentered the mainstream conversation thanks to Michael Pollan’s “How to Change Your Mind.” But there are still very few foundations that focus in this area. We get the inside story of how one philanthropist came to back psilocybin research and related causes.

The Gilbert Family Foundation, a leader in research funding for the incurable disease Neurofibromatosis type 1, has upped its game. Not content to just treat symptoms, the funder recently announced a three-year, $12 million initiative to find a cure. 

Neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s afflict millions of people worldwide, with growing human and financial costs. As a new year begins, we look at some of philanthropy’s current efforts to move the needle on research and treatment.

There’s a lot going on with Alzheimer’s research these days. In the latest sign of growing action, a Silicon Valley philanthropist is teaming up the Alzheimer’s Association to move millions in grants to boost the search for desperately needed therapies.

As Alzheimer’s disease inflicts an ever-rising toll on aging populations in the U.S. and overseas, the race is on for research breakthroughs. The Rainwater Charitable Foundation recently announced a major new prize focused on a key protein.

Alzheimer’s has been one of medicine’s toughest challenges, and while researchers soldier on, patients and caregivers are struggling right now. We look at who’s providing grants to improve services for these patients and their caregivers.

Since 2010, the Bertarelli Foundation has been funding a collaboration between Harvard Medical School and EPFL in Switzerland. It’s an unusual effort to link up researchers to study brain and sensory disorders.

In the latest example of the new money flowing into this space, a team of top philanthropists has joined forces to find new biomarkers to detect, diagnose and track Alzheimer’s disease. 

Diseases of dementia, including Alzheimer's, are among medicine's toughest challenges. AARP is getting behind an unusual effort to catalyze new breakthroughs in this frustrating field.

Foundations and research groups increasingly see out-of-the-box collaborations as holding the key to faster medical breakthroughs. Which explains why a top brain funder and heart organization are teaming up.

CZI is playing the long game with its health science funding. Its latest boost to the Human Cell Atlas project seeks to create the framework for global cooperative research for decades to come.

With more deep-pocketed donors excited by brain research, a handful of universities has landed some seriously large gifts. Brown is the latest school to get in on the action.

For the past few years, the Autism Science Foundation has been running a program to fund undergraduate scientists. It's virtually alone in targeting research dollars at this level. What's its thinking? 

Known for its support of cognitive research, the James S. McDonnell Foundation became frustrated by how little of what it learned ended up in classrooms. Here's what it did next. 

Empowering outlying research ideas can be a key to medical breakthroughs—or a major waste of money. Here's a how a Florida philanthropist is looking to shake things up on Alzheimer's.

Four foundations funded a team of researchers who set out to create a more powerful and accessible device to monitor brain activity. The effort could lead to breakthroughs in neuroscience. 

Despite the fact that dementia could literally bankrupt the U.S. as the population ages, no mega-giver or foundation really owns this space yet. But more funders are stepping up with some big gifts. 

Dallas philanthropist Lyda Hill approaches science funding by supporting emerging fields and scientific solutions to problems. Here's what this big-league giver has been up to lately. 

Worth $4.3 billion, the 88-year-old Marcus has said that he doesn't want to leave his fortune to the kids and believes in giving while living. So where's the money going? Here's one place.

The Craig H. Neilsen Foundation backs research and other programs related to spinal cord injuries. Neilsen has a laser-like focus, and has become a sizable player in a short time.

When a funder we've never heard of makes an eight-figure neuroscience gift to an out-of-the-way university, we can't help wondering what the backstory might be.  

Philanthropy's added value in medical research—a field that attracts tens of billions in public dollars—is backing riskier work that otherwise would go unfunded. Here's a wealthy couple doing exactly that at MIT. 

A couple with wealth from a Chinese entertainment and investing business are the latest taking a strong interest in brain science. They've set out to give $1 billion, starting at Caltech.

It's not just the new philanthropists giving big for biomedical research. Among legacy foundations, Helmsley has emerged as a key leader in this area.