Personalizing the patient experience through our caring spirit and distinctive capabilities
A defining feature of Vanderbilt University Medical Center’s grantmaking is the scale of its research enterprise: the largest recent award in the data is $17.2 million to Vanderbilt University Contract & Grant in Nashville for research, with other multi-million-dollar grants following to Vanderbilt-related and external institutions. That pattern points to a funder supporting both its own academic ecosystem and a broad network of biomedical collaborators. Vanderbilt University Medical Center backs healthcare delivery, biomedical research, medical education, and community health, while its active programs show a direct commitment to protecting research careers when caregiving responsibilities create interruptions. One of those programs, Doris Duke PARTNERS, provides up to $40,000 in caregiving support for Vanderbilt and Meharry early-career faculty. Another recent award of $3.4 million went to Meharry Medical College in Nashville for research, and a separate $3.0 million general grant went to the same institution in 2025. The mix of large research awards, faculty support programs, and community-health funding shows a medical center funder with reach across scholarship, training, and service.
Biomedical research is the clearest throughline in the recent grants list. Vanderbilt University Medical Center awarded $12.0 million to The Broad Institute Inc in Cambridge for research, and $6.3 million to the University of Pittsburgh in 2024 for research. Medical education also appears in the portfolio: the University of Florida in Gainesville received $2.2 million in 2023 for instruction. Community health is another active area, reflected in the Lewis B. Lefkowitz Fund, which is referenced on the VUMC Community Health & Engagement page and is tied to community health improvement and community engagement. Support for caregivers shows up in the Doris Duke PARTNERS program, which is designed to help Vanderbilt and Meharry early-career faculty maintain research careers during exceptional caregiving challenges.
Typical awards cluster from modest grants to large institutional commitments: the 25th percentile is $22,160, the median is $75,240, and the 75th percentile is $317,982. The recent-grants list shows both recurring and one-off behavior, with several institutions receiving multiple awards across years, including Vanderbilt University entries, The Broad Institute Inc, University of Pittsburgh, Washington University, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Meharry Medical College, University of Miami, Wake Forest University, and Johns Hopkins University. Vanderbilt University Medical Center is a regular funder, not a DAF, and it does not fund individuals. Active program pages also show that some support is offered through open, unsolicited applications.
$325.7M
$6.6B
$7.7B
$7.4B
Most grants fall between $22K and $318K, with a median of $75K.
25th Percentile
$22K
Median
$75K
75th Percentile
$318K
About 22% of grants go to recipients in TN.
Sign up for a free Kindora account to access AI-generated insights into this funder's giving patterns, decision-makers, and fit signals.
Get Started FreeFree Kindora accounts unlock side-by-side comparisons with foundations that share this funder's focus areas and giving profile.
Get Started FreeRegístrate gratis para ver qué tan bien se adapta tu organización sin fines de lucro a este financiador, obtener un pitch generado por IA y descubrir fundaciones similares.
Grant recipients are entirely in the United States, and Tennessee is the top state by grant count. Nashville appears repeatedly among recipients, including Vanderbilt University, VANDERBILT UNIVERSITY Sub Awards, and Meharry Medical College. Other recipient cities recur as well, such as Cambridge, Pittsburgh, Saint Louis, Boston, Philadelphia, Los Angeles, Baltimore, Miami, New York, Winston Salem, Ann Arbor, Gainesville, and Chicago. The data shows a national reach with a meaningful Tennessee concentration, including 22% of grants going to recipients in the HQ state.
The recent grants are aimed at universities, medical centers, and related research institutions. Named recipients include Vanderbilt University, The Broad Institute Inc, University of Pittsburgh, Meharry Medical College, Johns Hopkins University, and the University of Florida. The focus areas listed are healthcare delivery, biomedical research, medical education, and community health.
The grant-size distribution is broad. The 25th percentile is $22,160, the median is $75,240, and the 75th percentile is $317,982. The recent list also includes multi-million-dollar research awards, showing that the funder makes both smaller support grants and large institutional commitments.
Yes. Several organizations appear more than once in the recent grants list, including Vanderbilt University entries in Nashville, The Broad Institute Inc in Cambridge, University of Pittsburgh in Pittsburgh, Washington University in Saint Louis, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston, Meharry Medical College in Nashville, University of Miami, Wake Forest University, and Johns Hopkins University.
No. The funder is classified as not funding individuals. Its active programs instead focus on institutions and faculty support, including Doris Duke PARTNERS for Vanderbilt and Meharry early-career faculty and the Lewis B. Lefkowitz Fund for community health improvement activities.
Yes. The Doris Duke PARTNERS caregiving-support program and its COVID variant both accept unsolicited applications, and the Lewis B. Lefkowitz Fund is also marked as accepting unsolicited applications.
Jeffrey R Balser MD PHD
President and CEO
2025
Source: IRS Form 990-PF, fiscal year 2025.
Most recent grants reported to the IRS.
| Recipient | Location | Amount | Year | Purpose |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| VANDERBILT UNIVERSITY Sub Awards | Nashville, TN | $16,888,016 | 2025 | Research |
| THE BROAD INSTITUTE INC | Cambridge, MA | $12,024,402 | 2025 | Research |
| BETH ISRAEL DEACONESS MEDICAL CENTER | Boston, MA | $3,303,042 | 2025 | Research |
| WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY | St Louis, MO | $3,249,995 | 2025 | Research |
| MEHARRY MEDICAL COLLEGE | Nashville, TN | $2,968,566 | 2025 | General |
| BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF THE LELAND STANFORD JUNIOR UNIVERSITY | San Francisco, CA | $2,959,699 | 2025 | Research |
| JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY | Baltimore, MD | $2,933,476 | 2025 | Research |
| UNIVERSITY OF MIAMI OFFICE OF RESEARCH ADMINISTRATION | Miami, FL | $2,926,563 | 2025 | General |
| THE TRUSTEES OF COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY IN THE CITY OF NEW YORK | New York, NY | $2,620,003 | 2025 | Research |
| WAKE FOREST UNIVERSITY HEALTH SCIENCES | Winston Salem, NC | $2,294,899 | 2025 | Research |
| REGENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN | Ann Arbor, MI | $2,239,845 | 2025 | Research |
| UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA | Los Angeles, CA | $2,105,337 | 2025 | General |
| UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON STUDENT FISCAL SERVICES | Seattle, WA | $2,062,057 | 2025 | Research |
| YALE UNIVERSITY | New Haven, CT | $1,733,038 | 2025 | Research |
| REGENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO | Aurora, CO | $1,719,356 | 2025 | General |
| DUKE UNIVERSITY | Charlotte, NC | $1,703,774 | 2025 | Research |
| OREGON HEALTH & SCIENCE UNIVERSITY | Portland, OR | $1,541,034 | 2025 | Research |
| RENBIO INC | Long Island City, NY | $1,449,501 | 2025 | Research |
| UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA AT CHAPEL HILL | Atlanta, GA | $1,435,739 | 2025 | Research |
| UNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA AT BIRMINGHAM | Birmingham, AL | $1,397,476 | 2025 | General |
| TRUSTEES OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA | Philadelphia, PA | $1,377,233 | 2025 | Research |
| THE CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL OF PHILADELPHIA | Philadelphia, PA | $1,367,397 | 2025 | General |
| EMORY UNIVERSITY | Atlanta, GA | $1,254,713 | 2025 | Research |
| BRIGHAM & WOMENS HOSPITAL | Boston, MA | $1,148,755 | 2025 | Research |
| NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY | Chicago, IL | $1,021,639 | 2025 | Research |
| UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH | Pittsburgh, PA | $1,017,917 | 2025 | Research |
| THE REGENTS OF THE UNIV OF CAL UCSF OFFICE OF SPONSORED RESEARCH | San Francisco, CA | $958,958 | 2025 | Research |
| IHC HEALTH SERVICES INC | Salt Lake City, UT | $920,985 | 2025 | Research |
| BAYLOR RESEACH INSTITUTE | Dallas, TX | $866,600 | 2025 | Research |
| ALBERT EINSTEIN COLLEGE OF MEDICINE | Bronx, NY | $842,041 | 2025 | Research |
| RUSH UNIVERSITY MEDICAL CENTER | Chicago, IL | $834,726 | 2025 | Research |
| UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA | Gainesville, FL | $814,639 | 2025 | General |
| INDIANA UNIVERSITY TRUSTEES OF INDIANA UNIV | Detroit, MI | $811,306 | 2025 | Research |
| THE OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY | Columbus, OH | $806,636 | 2025 | Research |
| BOARD OF REGENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN-MADISON | Milwaukee, WI | $737,979 | 2025 | Research |
| MD ANDERSON MEDICAL CENTER UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS | Houston, TX | $637,382 | 2025 | Research |
| THE GENERAL HOSPITAL CORPORATION | Boston, MA | $633,931 | 2025 | General |
| UNIVERSITY OF UTAH | Salt Lake City, UT | $627,497 | 2025 | Research |
| THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS | Chicago, IL | $615,044 | 2025 | Research |
| UNIVERSITY OF LOUISVILLE CONTROLLERS OFFICE | Louisville, KY | $592,147 | 2025 | General |
| WEST VIRGINIA UNIVERSITY | Morgantown, WV | $574,625 | 2025 | General |
| UNIVERSITY OF CINCINNATI | Cincinnati, OH | $562,911 | 2025 | Research |
| THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS SOUTHWESTERN MEDICAL CNETER | Dallas, TX | $562,472 | 2025 | General |
| BAYSTATE MEDICAL CENTER INC | Springfield, MA | $556,622 | 2025 | Research |
| VIRGINIA COMMONWEALTH UNIVERSITY | Richmond, VA | $555,119 | 2025 | Research |
| THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA | Tucson, AZ | $518,337 | 2025 | Research |
| HENRY FORD HEALTH SYSTEM | Troy, MI | $472,151 | 2025 | Research |
| THE CLEVELAND CLINIC FOUNDATION | Cleveland, OH | $469,470 | 2025 | Research |
| BATTELLE MEMORIAL INSTITUTE | Richland, WA | $467,913 | 2025 | Research |
| NEW YORK UNIVERSITY LANGONE MEDICAL CTR | Tuxedo Park, NY | $434,555 | 2025 | Research |
VANDERBILT UNIVERSITY Sub Awards
$16,888,016Research
THE BROAD INSTITUTE INC
$12,024,402Research
BETH ISRAEL DEACONESS MEDICAL CENTER
$3,303,042Research
WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY
$3,249,995Research
MEHARRY MEDICAL COLLEGE
$2,968,566General
BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF THE LELAND STANFORD JUNIOR UNIVERSITY
$2,959,699Research
JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY
$2,933,476Research
UNIVERSITY OF MIAMI OFFICE OF RESEARCH ADMINISTRATION
$2,926,563General
THE TRUSTEES OF COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY IN THE CITY OF NEW YORK
$2,620,003Research
WAKE FOREST UNIVERSITY HEALTH SCIENCES
$2,294,899Research
REGENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN
$2,239,845Research
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
$2,105,337General
UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON STUDENT FISCAL SERVICES
$2,062,057Research
YALE UNIVERSITY
$1,733,038Research
REGENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO
$1,719,356General
DUKE UNIVERSITY
$1,703,774Research
OREGON HEALTH & SCIENCE UNIVERSITY
$1,541,034Research
RENBIO INC
$1,449,501Research
UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA AT CHAPEL HILL
$1,435,739Research
UNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA AT BIRMINGHAM
$1,397,476General
TRUSTEES OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA
$1,377,233Research
THE CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL OF PHILADELPHIA
$1,367,397General
EMORY UNIVERSITY
$1,254,713Research
BRIGHAM & WOMENS HOSPITAL
$1,148,755Research
NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY
$1,021,639Research
UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH
$1,017,917Research
THE REGENTS OF THE UNIV OF CAL UCSF OFFICE OF SPONSORED RESEARCH
$958,958Research
IHC HEALTH SERVICES INC
$920,985Research
BAYLOR RESEACH INSTITUTE
$866,600Research
ALBERT EINSTEIN COLLEGE OF MEDICINE
$842,041Research
RUSH UNIVERSITY MEDICAL CENTER
$834,726Research
UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA
$814,639General
INDIANA UNIVERSITY TRUSTEES OF INDIANA UNIV
$811,306Research
THE OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY
$806,636Research
BOARD OF REGENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN-MADISON
$737,979Research
MD ANDERSON MEDICAL CENTER UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS
$637,382Research
THE GENERAL HOSPITAL CORPORATION
$633,931General
UNIVERSITY OF UTAH
$627,497Research
THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS
$615,044Research
UNIVERSITY OF LOUISVILLE CONTROLLERS OFFICE
$592,147General
WEST VIRGINIA UNIVERSITY
$574,625General
UNIVERSITY OF CINCINNATI
$562,911Research
THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS SOUTHWESTERN MEDICAL CNETER
$562,472General
BAYSTATE MEDICAL CENTER INC
$556,622Research
VIRGINIA COMMONWEALTH UNIVERSITY
$555,119Research
THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA
$518,337Research
HENRY FORD HEALTH SYSTEM
$472,151Research
THE CLEVELAND CLINIC FOUNDATION
$469,470Research
BATTELLE MEMORIAL INSTITUTE
$467,913Research
NEW YORK UNIVERSITY LANGONE MEDICAL CTR
$434,555Research