The G. Harold and Leila Y. Mathers Charitable Foundation
/OVERVIEW: The G. Harold and Leila Y. Mathers Charitable Foundation gives broad support to “established researchers at top universities and independent research institutions” in the United States. It supports biomedical research and has demonstrated interest in the areas of cancer, immunology and diseases of the nervous system.
IP TAKE: The Mathers Foundation is somewhat accessible. It maintains a relatively low profile, but accepts letters of inquiry for its three annual grantmaking cycles. Selected applicants are invited to submit full proposals. Specific studies by researchers and/or teams, and grantees are required to submit yearly reports on the progress of funded research. Areas of interest in its recent disease research grantmaking appear to be cancer and Parkinson’s disease.
PROFILE: Based in Rye Brook, New York, the G. Harold and Leila Y. Mathers Charitable Foundation was founded in 1982. Leila Mathers was an heir to the fortune of Marjorie Merriweather Post, a former owner of General Foods Inc. Her husband, G. Harold Mathers, ran a shoe business. During their lives, the Mathers were known for supporting students in medical school and St. Francis Hospital in their hometown of Santa Barbara, California. Today, the Mathers Charitable Foundation aims to “advance knowledge in the life sciences by sponsoring scientific research that will benefit mankind” prioritizing “basic scientific research, with potential translational application.” This funder maintains a simple website and does not name specific goals for its grantmaking in the life sciences.
Grants for Brain and Cell Research
The Mathers has provided grants to research in the fields of microbiome science, genomics and cellular physiology at leading universities, medical schools and research institutes in the U.S. One grant supported molecular glycobiology at the University of California at San Diego. At Yale, another grant funded research on the application of nano-physics to epigenetics. Other past grantees include the Salk Institute for Biological Studies, the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory and the Texas Biomedical Research Institute.
Grants for Disease Research
The Mathers Foundation’s disease research grantmaking appears to focus on cancer and neurodegenerative diseases. A recent grant supported research to identify types of brain cells that are able to withstand Parkinson’s disease at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Another grant funded research on cellular aspects of cancer progression at George Washington University. The foundation has also funded cancer research at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Institute.
Grants for Higher Education
The Mathers Foundation supports medical education and research at several leading universities in the U.S., although it does not name specific funding interests for its higher education grantmaking. Recent grants have gone to Yale University, the California Institute of Technology, Johns Hopkins University and Harvard University, to name a few.
Important Grant Details:
The Mathers Foundation makes between $10 and $15 million a year in grants, most of which are in the $100,000 to $500,000 range. This funder’s grantees include top universities, medical schools and research institutes in the U.S., and its grants generally support specific projects in the areas of immunology, microbiome research, genomics, structural biology, cellular physiology and neuroscience. For additional information about past grantmaking, see the foundation’s recent tax filings.
Although this funder’s grantmaking is highly selective, the Mathers Foundation accepts letters of inquiry through its application portal. It runs three grantmaking cycles each year, with due dates on July 31, December 15 and April 15 of each year. Selected applicants will be invited to submit full proposals, which are due on October 15, February 28 and June 30. Grantees are required to submit yearly progress reports on funded research to the foundation. General inquiries may be submitted to the foundation’s staff via email.
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