About Milken Institute
The Milken Institute is a nonprofit, nonpartisan economic think tank that seeks to increase global prosperity by advancing collaborative solutions that widen access to capital, create jobs and improve health.
Focus Areas
Mental healthMedical research and innovationHealth care deliveryHealth equityEconomic policy and mobilityImpact investingClimate and environmentPhilanthropy best practices
Who They Fund
medical researchers and computational biologistspeople living with bipolar disorderpeople living with ALSearly-stage or inclusive entrepreneurs
About Milken Institute
The Milken Institute’s recent grantmaking is dominated by large biomedical research awards, especially bipolar disorder work and computational biology. A single 2024 grant of $9,911,455 to The Broad Institute Inc. anchors that pattern, followed by another $6,166,250 in 2025 to The Feinstein Institutes for Medical Research for bipolar disorder research. The scale is substantial: the foundation’s median grant is $1,381,047, and its upper quartile reaches $3,461,838, which places many awards well above standard project-grant levels. Research institutions appear repeatedly in the recipient list, including Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, and The J. Gladstone Institutes. The funding also extends beyond biomedical science into entrepreneurship support, philanthropy infrastructure, and award-based initiatives. That mix reflects a funder that combines disease-focused research grants with intermediary-style grants and programmatic efforts tied to access to capital, jobs, and health. Several recipients receive multi-million-dollar awards in successive years, suggesting sustained relationships rather than isolated one-off grants.
What Milken Institute Funds
Bipolar disorder research is the clearest theme in the recent awards. The Milken Institute gave $4,912,044 to Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai for bipolar disorder research, and it also supported multiple university and hospital partners with similar awards in the same category. Computational biology is another major lane: Massachusetts Institute of Technology received $4,962,414 for transformative computational biology, and The J. Gladstone Institutes received $4,843,866 for the same purpose. The foundation also funds ALS work, including $600,000 to Emory University and $599,998 to Oregon Health & Science University for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis research. Beyond research, it supports inclusive entrepreneurship through grants such as $1,689,862 to Impact Charitable for the Initiative for Inclusive Entrepreneurship (IIE) and $575,000 to Great Rivers Community Trust dba Scale Link for the same initiative.
How Milken Institute Gives
Grant size varies widely, but the center of gravity is large: the 25th percentile is $37,500, the median is $1,381,047, and the 75th percentile is $3,461,838. The recent record shows repeated awards to the same institutions across 2024 and 2025, which points to ongoing relationships rather than isolated transactions. The Milken Institute is a public charity and a regular funder, and it does not fund individuals. Its recent grants also show a mix of direct research support, philanthropy-related assistance, and initiative-based funding rather than a single grantmaking vehicle.
Financial Snapshot
Annual Giving
$42.9M
Total Assets
$1.5B
Total Revenue
$389M
Total Expenses
$151.4M
Typical Grant Size
Most grants fall between $38K and $3.5M, with a median of $1.4M.
25th Percentile
$38K
Median
$1.4M
75th Percentile
$3.5M
Geographic Reach
National17 states funded
Funding intensity
LowHigh
Headquarters
Leadership
RICHARD DITIZIO
CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER & PRESIDENT
Accepts unsolicited proposals
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