About Breast Cancer Research Foundation
Vision: The end of breast cancer. BCRF funds world-class researchers to advance prevention, treatment and cure of breast cancer.
Focus Areas
breast cancer researchtumor biologyprevention and curemetastatic breast cancertriple-negative breast canceryoung women and breast cancer
Who They Fund
medical researchersresearch institutionspatient populations (indirect)
Funding Style
research grantmakingproject-specific fundingscience-focused support
About Breast Cancer Research Foundation
The Breast Cancer Research Foundation Inc. centers its grantmaking on breast cancer research, with investigator-driven awards aimed at tumor biology, prevention, early detection, treatment, survivorship, and metastatic breast cancer. Its active programs include BCRF Research Grants and the Evelyn H. Lauder Founders' Fund for Metastatic Breast Cancer Research, both built around scientific projects at researchers and research institutions rather than individual patients. Recent awards show support for major academic and cancer centers, including Johns Hopkins University at $12,375,064 in 2025 and Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center at $3,634,991 in 2024. The foundation also backed Dana Farber Cancer Institute with several awards across 2023–2025, alongside grants to the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill, University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine, and the University of California San Francisco. The pattern is project-specific research funding tied to clinical and biomedical questions across the breast cancer field, with an emphasis on translating science into better outcomes.
What Breast Cancer Research Foundation Funds
In breast cancer research, the foundation gave $12,375,064 to Johns Hopkins University for medical research in 2025 and $3,680,596 to Dana Farber Cancer Institute for the same purpose in 2024. It also supported Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center with $3,634,991 in 2024, again tagged for medical research. Those awards point to a portfolio anchored in large research institutions. Its topic list includes prevention, early detection, treatment, and survivorship. The University of North Carolina Chapel Hill received $2,324,720 in 2025 and $2,099,697 in 2024 for medical research, while the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine received $2,078,523 in 2025 and $1,963,051 in 2024. The foundation also funded the University of Michigan at $1,636,188 in 2025, keeping the work centered on research institutions engaged in breast cancer science.
How Breast Cancer Research Foundation Gives
Typical awards are large: the grant-size distribution shows a p25 of $225,000, a median of $449,940, and a p75 of $696,063. The recent-grants list also shows repeated awards to the same institutions across multiple years, including Johns Hopkins University, Dana Farber Cancer Institute, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, and the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine. The foundation is a regular funder with project-specific research grantmaking, not a fund for individuals. Publicly listed programs describe competitive research grant programs for researchers and research institutions, and the available program pages indicate that unsolicited applications are not accepted.
Financial Snapshot
Annual Giving
$61.1M
Total Assets
$220.5M
Total Revenue
$102.3M
Total Expenses
$94.8M
Typical Grant Size
Most grants fall between $225K and $696K, with a median of $450K.
25th Percentile
$225K
Median
$450K
75th Percentile
$696K
Geographic Reach
National30 states funded
Funding intensity
LowHigh
Headquarters
Leadership
DONNA MCKAY
Accepts unsolicited proposals
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