About Cancer Research Institute
Uniting for a world immune to cancer by turning immunotherapy research into real-world impact and changing the way we treat and defeat cancer.
Focus Areas
Cancer immunotherapyClinical trials and translational researchImmunology and tumor immunologyData science and bioinformaticsTraining and career development for researchers
Who They Fund
cancer researchers (PIs and labs)postdoctoral and early-career scientistsclinical investigators and academic medical centersmultidisciplinary research consortia and expert networks
Funding Style
translational and clinical accelerationresearch capacity building
About Cancer Research Institute
Cancer Research Institute Inc backed a $9,002,197 grant to Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in 2024, a signal of how much of its capital is directed toward research that can move immunotherapy into clinical use. The foundation’s giving is built around cancer immunotherapy, with support for multi-center clinical trials, translational research, data infrastructure, and career development for researchers. Its program mix reaches from early-stage ideas to late-stage clinical studies, including the CRI Anna-Maria Kellen Clinical Accelerator / Venture Philanthropy Fund and the CRI Lloyd J. Old STAR Program. It also funds investigator training through postdoctoral fellowships and transition awards, helping scientists build careers in immunology, bioinformatics, and cancer research. Recent grants show repeated support for major academic medical centers and research institutes, including University of California San Francisco, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute Inc, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, and Columbia University in the City of New York. The pattern is one of sustained research funding rather than a single project category, with awards reaching across laboratory discovery, clinical translation, and shared data resources.
What Cancer Research Institute Funds
Cancer immunotherapy is the central thread across the foundation’s program portfolio. In clinical translation, it gave $1,000,000 to academic researchers through the CRI Clinical Innovator program for pioneering immunotherapy clinical trials, and $1,250,000 through the CRI Lloyd J. Old STAR Program for high-risk research at the leading edge of the field. It also supports the laboratory-to-clinic pipeline through the CRI Clinic and Laboratory Integration Program (CLIP), which funds investigations at the intersection of discovery and clinical application. On the data side, CRI Data Programs back AI-ready resources and shared tools, including the CRI Discovery Engine. Career-building is another recurring theme: the CRI Immuno-Informatics Postdoctoral Fellowship and the CRI Irvington Postdoctoral Fellowship support early-career scientists developing expertise in immunology, bioinformatics, and cancer immunology.
How Cancer Research Institute Gives
Typical award size clusters in the six-figure range, with p25 at $175,500, a median of $243,000, and p75 at $543,000. The recent grants list also shows several larger awards above $1 million, including multi-year support to research institutions and clinical programs. The foundation appears to combine recurring programmatic awards with one-off project grants, and some recipients appear in multiple years, such as University of California San Francisco, Columbia University in the City of New York, Yale University School of Medicine, and Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. It is a regular funder rather than a DAF, and it does not fund individuals. Several active programs accept unsolicited applications, including fellowships and research awards, while some data and accelerator programs do not.
Financial Snapshot
Annual Giving
$15.8M
Total Assets
$133.7M
Total Revenue
$24M
Total Expenses
$32.8M
Typical Grant Size
Most grants fall between $176K and $543K, with a median of $243K.
25th Percentile
$176K
Median
$243K
75th Percentile
$543K
Geographic Reach
National22 states funded
About 19% of grants go to recipients in NY.
Funding intensity
LowHigh
Headquarters
Leadership
ALICIA ZHOU PHD
Accepts unsolicited proposals
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