About American Lung Association
A world free of lung disease. Improve lung health and prevent lung disease through research, education, advocacy and community programs.
Focus Areas
Lung health researchLung cancerAsthma and COPDTobacco cessation and policyClean air and air qualityInfectious respiratory diseases and immunization
Who They Fund
people with lung diseaseindividuals at risk of lung diseasesmokers and tobacco userspatients with chronic respiratory diseases (e.g., COPD, pulmonary fibrosis)
Funding Style
research funding
About American Lung Association
The American Lung Association channels major grant dollars into research on lung health and lung disease, with recent awards reaching university labs, hospitals, and cancer research groups across the country. Its recent list includes seven-figure support for Entertainment Industry Foundation (Stand Up 2 Cancer), Johns Hopkins University, and Northwestern University, alongside repeated grants to the same institutions in later years. That pattern points to a funder that backs both large research collaborations and ongoing work with established scientific teams. The foundation’s grantmaking aligns with its stated mission to improve lung health and prevent lung disease through research, education, advocacy, and community programs. Recent awards cover lung cancer, asthma and COPD, tobacco cessation and policy, clean air and air quality, and infectious respiratory diseases and immunization. The portfolio also includes support for interstitial lung disease, allergic respiratory disease, and public health research tied to healthy air. Across the recent grants list, recipients include academic medical centers such as Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, and the University of California San Francisco. American Lung Association gives nationally and uses research awards as a core part of its funding approach. The recent grants show a mix of broad lung-health funding and narrower topic-specific awards, reflecting a structured research agenda rather than a single-program model.
What American Lung Association Funds
In lung cancer research, the foundation backed Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center with $400,000 in 2025 and the Regents of the University of California San Francisco with $815,160 in 2025. It also supported Johns Hopkins University with $970,310 in 2025, showing continued investment in major research institutions working on lung disease. Its portfolio also reaches chronic and inflammatory respiratory conditions. Northwestern University received $1,056,242 in 2024 and $462,675 in 2025, while the University of Alabama at Birmingham received $530,000 in 2025 and $464,289 in 2023. Those grants sit alongside awards tied to asthma, COPD, pulmonary fibrosis, and related lung-health research. The foundation additionally funds environmental and policy-oriented work. The active Indoor Air Award supports research on indoor air quality and policy-relevant interventions, and the Public Health & Public Policy Research Award is designed to inform public policy debates about healthy air and lung disease.
Financial Snapshot
Annual Giving
$13.5M
Total Assets
$225.7M
Total Revenue
$118.7M
Total Expenses
$116.9M
Typical Grant Size
Most grants fall between $150K and $306K, with a median of $200K.
25th Percentile
$150K
Median
$200K
75th Percentile
$306K
Geographic Reach
National35 states funded
About 7% of grants go to recipients in NY.
Funding intensity
LowHigh
Headquarters
Leadership
HAROLD WIMMER
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