Panel, Conference Presentation
Supercharge the Search for Cures: Medical Philanthropists Reinvent Giving to Get Results
Milken InstituteLaTese Briggs, Debra Black, Cindy L. Citrone, Joyce Keller, Melissa Stevens, Rob Citron
- Federal funding for science and medical research is expected to remain stagnant for a "really long time," leading to slow project progress, loss of scientific talent, and viable ideas remaining undeveloped due to lack of capital.
- Philanthropy is predicted to have an outsized impact through a shift toward "strategic philanthropy" that is nimble and willing to accept higher risks than traditional funding sources, with expectations that increased millennial engagement will initially cause "healthy growing pains" before achieving net positive results.
- Several organizations plan to launch venture funds or "de-risk" translational spaces to attract institutional investors, though specific initiatives like the Breast Cancer Research Foundation's fund face board nervousness about cannibalizing existing fundraising and have not yet been approved or launched.
- The Breast Cancer Research Foundation intends to move away from traditional benefit events to develop sustainable capital for 10 to 12 high-priority projects, a decision for which a board vote is scheduled for May.
- Specific campaigns include a year-long push from June to December to transform Pittsburgh into a "city of champions" by increasing organ donor registration from the current 40%, and a target to secure a White House-endorsed item on the administration's agenda by December 15th.
- The Gilbert Foundation has launched its first initiative as a consortium of vision researchers following a breakthrough in retinal ganglion cells, with confidence in pursuing a "vision restoration" gene therapy initiative despite no final decision being made.
- The Brin Family Foundation anticipates a strategy "reset" to invest upstream in basic science to achieve better translational and clinical outcomes, aiming to bring Parkinson's disease therapies to market while maintaining a portfolio that covers both basic and translational research.
- Future collaboration in the breast cancer field is predicted to require mergers, acquisitions, and cross-disease cooperation to accelerate research, while the Melanoma Research Alliance expects a surge in researchers entering the field following the approval of 11 therapies.
- Organ donation convenings suggest the fastest method to improve kidney failure outcomes is increasing donor numbers rather than funding new drugs, while patient engagement in registries is deemed critical to understanding disease trajectories and making clinical trials more attractive to pharma.
- Structural challenges persist for new medical devices, as large Western manufacturers are described as risk-averse with a growth model based on acquisition, creating difficulties for new entrants to reach a user base.
- Risks include potential inefficiencies if philanthropists lack "hands-on engagement," which may lead to perceptions of ineffective giving, and the possibility that "checkbook philanthropy" could become unsustainable without a transition to strategic models.
- Expectations for the future include the development of standards and evaluations through philanthropist collaboration that will eventually force a selection process among charities, as well as increased coordination and shared back-office resources to create efficiencies.