Dr. Miriam and Sheldon G. Adelson Medical Research Foundation
/OVERVIEW: The Dr. Miriam and Sheldon G. Adelson Medical Research Foundation funds basic and clinical research into life-threatening illnesses. It names neurology, oncology and immunology as its priority funding areas.
IP TAKE: Cross-disciplinary collaboration and sharing is of the utmost importance at Adelson. Grantseekers with an unwillingness to collaborate with other scientists or a penchant for operating in a medical research silo will only result in this funder passing them over. This funder does not award many grants each year, usually fewer than 20, so there’s a lot of competition.
This funder invests in individual researchers and, sometimes, institutions conducting team research. Either way, to get on this funder’s radar, first introduce yourself by email to the science officer in charge of the relevant AMRF program, including a brief description of your ongoing work. This funder does not run an application program; it recruits experts to collaborate on research in select fields of cancer and neurological research.
PROFILE: Established in 2006, the Dr. Miriam and Sheldon G. Adelson Medical Research Foundation (AMRF) supports research scientists and investigators participating in “goal-directed basic and clinical research to prevent, reduce or eliminate disabling and life-threatening illness.” The foundation seeks to foster collaboration among biomedical researchers to hasten the pace of medical innovations and the commercialization of needed medical products and break down medical research barriers that lead to scientific investigator isolation by supporting efforts in collaborative research. AMRF is not a traditional grantmaker in that it establishes its own research programs and sets up virtual labs comprised of “multi-disciplinary, cross-organizational experts” in the established field or research topic. In addition to providing financial support for this research, the foundation monitors and disseminates findings.
Grants for Diseases and Brain and Cell Research
AMRF’s specific research topics shift every few years. Its current projects include:
Research on the ubiquitin proteasome pathway, with the goal of greater understanding and the development of “new therapies for malignancies, immunological and inflammatory diseases and degenerative diseases of the nervous system.”
Research on “the various types of genetic, epigenetic and molecular alterations” of ovarian cancer and the translation of “the most promising scientific and therapeutic leads into near-term clinical trials that will improve outcomes for ovarian cancer (OvCa) patients.”
A broad investigation of melanoma treatments focusing on treatment resistance, treatment efficacy and the reduction of treatment side effects.
Research on the etiology and early stages of multiple myeloma and strategies to “prevent the lethality of the disease.”
An investigation of cell replacement and repair as a means of facilitating recovery from brain injury and disease.
Research to develop new therapies for peripheral neuropathy and PNS nerve regeneration, including “mechanisms of axon growth and survival, remyelination, and axoglial interactions.”
The in-depth study of “interactions and mechanisms” toward new therapies for spinal cord injury and CNS nerve regeneration.
Research on protection and regeneration in multiple sclerosis, specifically “defining pathways used for communication between nerve cells and myelin, interrogating interactions between the nervous and immune systems, and identifying therapeutic approaches to enhance repair and forestall, if not reverse, progressive MS.”
Important Grant Details:
AMRF made approximately $27 million in grants in a recent year. Grants range in size from $50,000 to $3.5 million, with an average grant size of about $400,000. Grants tend to go to researchers and research teams at top universities and research institutes in the U.S. and abroad. Recent grants have supported researchers at institutions including Johns Hopkins University, the Rockefeller University, Cedars Sinai Medical Center, Stanford University and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
AMRF generally recruits researchers for participation in its research projects and does not run a formal application program. Researchers who are interested in collaborating with this foundation should review the foundation’s model, program and investigator pages and sign up for email updates. The foundation receives messages and inquiries through its contact page.
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