Concern Foundation: Grants for Diseases

OVERVIEW: Concern awards grants for early career investigators studying cancer immunology, genetics, and cell biology.

IP TAKE: Concern is an approachable funder that accepts unsolicited applications, but only awards about 20 grants per year. The foundation tends to back research that takes a “strong hypothesis-driven approach,” that is both original and potentially significant to the field of cancer research. Grantmaking is global in scope, with many grants supporting researchers outside of the U.S.

PROFILE: The Concern Foundation was founded in 1970 by 15 couples who wished to support their friend Beverly Wolman’s battle with cancer. In those early days, the foundation supported Dr. David Weiss’ research at the Lautenberg Center for Tumor Immunology at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Dr. Weiss’ research would later be accepted for evaluation by the National Institutes of Health. Since then, Concern’s research grant funding has grown to support around 20 investigators each year who are studying the immunology, genetics, and cell biology of cancer.

Concern’s main grantmaking program is the Conquer Cancer Now Award, which is reserved for early career researchers who have achieved the professional level of assistant professor or its equivalent and who “have yet to obtain significant funding for their work.” Proposed programs must be “hypothesis-driven and centered on cancer genetics, cancer biology, or cancer immunology.” The foundation will not fund clinical trials, epidemiology, or behavioral studies.

Concern awards grants of $60,000 per year for up to two years. To get a broader sense of the type of research supported by Concern, explore its Meet Our Researchers page, which provides detailed information on researchers and their work.

The foundation accepts unsolicited grant applications every other year from institutions in the United States and abroad, noting that prospective grantees are not required to have U.S. citizenship to be eligible for a grant. The foundation’s last grantmaking cycle began in 2021; grantseekers should check the website periodically for updates about future cycles. Application questions may be addressed to grants administrator Seunga Yu.

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