Ben And Catherine Ivy Foundation

The Ben and Catherine Ivy Foundation is one of the most focused medical research funders in the United States — its entire external grant program is dedicated to glioblastoma (GBM) and adult malignant glioma. Every successful applicant in the grant record works on GBM: tumor microenvironment, drug delivery, immunotherapy, CSF biomarkers, kinase inhibitors, cancer stem cells, and combination therapies. There is no secondary program area.

CRITICAL NOTE FOR 2026: The foundation has publicly announced it will NOT accept Grant Proposals in 2026. Plan for a 2027 application window. Applications have historically been accepted beginning January 1 of the open year.

Strategic positioning for future applicants:

1. Translational mandate is absolute. The foundation funds research explicitly designed to move toward early-phase clinical trials. Basic science grants that do not include a clear translational pathway to patients are not funded. Every funded project in the grant record includes a pharmacokinetic/pharmacodynamic endpoint or a direct clinical trial hook.

2. The Ivy Brain Tumor Center (Barrow Neurological Institute) is the institutional anchor. A significant portion of the foundation budget flows through Neuro Trials LLC (the operating entity for the Ivy Brain Tumor Center). Investigators who propose work explicitly designed to generate data for Ivy Center Phase 0 trials have an inherent advantage. Contact the Ivy Brain Tumor Center directly to explore collaborative arrangements before submitting.

3. Emerging Leader Award targets early-career investigators. If you are an early-to-mid-career researcher (typically within 10 years of completing training), the Emerging Leader Award is the appropriate track. It is explicitly designed for ambitious pilot projects — smaller, proof-of-concept work that can feed into clinical trial proposals.

4. Translational Adult Glioma Award for established investigators. For mid-to-senior researchers with preliminary data, this award funds projects at a higher confidence level. The [$300,000] benchmark for typical research grants (paid in 2 installments) is the operational target.

5. Phone contact is the right first move. The foundation explicitly states inquiries should be made via phone (480.659.9621) or mail. No online application portal or email is published. Cold submissions without prior contact are likely to be deprioritized.

The Ivy Foundation's 2022 grant disbursements (the most recent data on record) show [$31,981,142] across 62 recorded transactions. Note: due to apparent duplicate entries in the 990-PF data, the actual unique disbursements are roughly half that number, with the true grant total closer to [$15–16M] for the year.

Research grant tier (the primary program): The standard research grant is [$300,000] paid in two installments of [$150,000] each. Recipients in 2022 included major academic medical centers: Memorial Sloan Kettering, Yale Cancer Center, University of Michigan, H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center, MD Anderson Cancer Center (two separate grants), University of New Mexico, University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, UC San Diego, Mayo Clinic (two grants), Swedish Medical Center, Columbia University Irving Medical Center, Vanderbilt University, Virginia Tech, and UT Southwestern Medical Center. This is a highly competitive, nationally distributed portfolio.

Neuro Trials LLC (Ivy Brain Tumor Center operational funding): The foundation made multiple large transfers to Neuro Trials LLC in 2022, including [$5,470,000] (prepayment for 2023 CSF analysis), [$5,000,000] (building expansion), [$450,000] (CSF analysis with TGen), and [$200,000] (building lobby deposit). These are not competitive grants — they represent the foundation's operational investment in its proprietary clinical trial infrastructure.

Internship and pipeline programs: The Ivy Neurological Sciences Internship at TGen received [$78,293] in 2022 for student scientist training. ARCS Foundation received [$8,800] for STEM scholar support.

Local/community Arizona grants: A small number of Phoenix-area grants appear (Society of St. Vincent de Paul [$250,000] for family wellness; NotMyKid [$1,000]; Amanda Hope Rainbow [$500]; O'Connor Institute [$500]), suggesting a modest local philanthropy strand alongside the dominant research mission.

Typical grant sizes: Research grants [$200,000]–[$300,000] (paid in 2 installments); Emerging Leader grants likely lower (insufficient data to confirm exact range). Maximum observed research grant to external institutions: [$300,000]. Foundation asset base: [$299,789,615] with [$38,821,537] in annual income — well-resourced for sustained grant-making.

The Ben and Catherine Ivy Foundation occupies a rare niche among private U.S. foundations: single-disease focus (glioblastoma/brain cancer) combined with a proprietary clinical trial infrastructure (the Ivy Brain Tumor Center). Few comparable private foundations operate at this level of integration between philanthropy and clinical research:

• National Brain Tumor Society — primarily a public charity fundraising for research; does not operate clinical trials; advocacy and research grants overlap with Ivy's mission but differ structurally.
• Musella Foundation for Brain Tumor Research — smaller scale, patient-centric, does not operate clinical infrastructure.
• Sontag Foundation — funds GBM research including early-career investigators; directly comparable in grant size and focus; considered a peer funder. Researchers often apply to both.
• Bristol-Myers Squibb Foundation / pharmaceutical corporate foundations — some overlap in GBM immunotherapy funding, but these are strategic R&D investments, not philanthropic grants.
• NIH/NCI — the primary federal funder of GBM research; Ivy often funds the "too risky for NIH" translational work that doesn't fit standard study section criteria.

What distinguishes Ivy: the Phase 0 clinical trial model. Rather than funding basic science that may or may not reach patients, Ivy explicitly funds research designed to generate data for Phase 0/Phase 1 trials at the Ivy Brain Tumor Center. This is a faster, leaner path to clinical translation than traditional drug development — and it requires applicants to understand and align with that specific model.

The most significant recent development is the 2026 grant pause. The foundation website explicitly states: "The Ivy Foundation will not be accepting any Grant Proposals in 2026." This is unprecedented in available records and likely reflects a strategic review, the completion of the new Ivy Brain Tumor Center headquarters (announced as opening in 2024 on the Dignity Health St. Joseph's Hospital campus in Phoenix), or a reallocation of capital toward the new building and operating infrastructure.

The new Ivy Brain Tumor Center headquarters represents a major capital investment: the building includes laboratory space, 14,000 sq ft for trials infrastructure, 7,000 sq ft for clinical consultation (MRI-guided ultrasound suite, teleconference auditorium), and expanded capacity for Phase 0 trials. The foundation's 2022 disbursements already show [$10M+] directed to building-related costs — suggesting the 2026 grant pause may allow completion funding to be absorbed before resuming external grant cycles.

From Catherine Ivy's public message: "Since 2005, we've committed more than [$179 million] to brain tumor research." The foundation views its role as funding the "too risky for NIH" research — high-reward, high-risk translational work that traditional funders won't touch. This philosophy has been consistent across the available grant record and should guide how applicants frame their proposals when applications reopen.

The TGen Neurological Sciences Internship partnership and ARCS Foundation support signal ongoing interest in building the scientific pipeline of future GBM researchers — a useful angle for applicants who can demonstrate career development impact alongside their research aims.

Top tactical tips for applying to Ben and Catherine Ivy Foundation (when applications reopen — NOT in 2026):

1. Do not apply in 2026. The foundation has suspended grant proposals for 2026. Monitor the website (https://ivyfoundation.org) from November 2026 onward for announcements about the 2027 cycle. Applications have historically opened January 1.

2. Contact by phone before submitting. The foundation explicitly requests inquiries by phone (480.659.9621) or mail only. Call before the application window opens to introduce your research and confirm interest.

3. Frame everything around the path to a Phase 0 clinical trial. The Ivy Brain Tumor Center runs the world's largest Phase 0 trials program. Every funded grant should be able to answer: "How will the results of this study be used to design or advance a clinical trial at Barrow?" Projects without this connection are outside the foundation's model.

4. Choose the right grant track. Early-to-mid-career investigators (Emerging Leader Grant): pilot-scale, ambitious, designed to generate preliminary data for a trial. Established investigators (Translational Adult Glioma Award): larger, further along the translational arc. Applying to the wrong track is a disqualifying signal.

5. Target [$200,000]–[$300,000] in your request. The 2022 grant record shows consistent [$300,000] awards (paid in 2 installments of [$150,000]) for research grants to academic medical centers. Budget accordingly — do not request significantly above this without prior discussion.

6. Institutional affiliation matters. All 2022 external research recipients are NCI-designated cancer centers or major academic medical schools: MD Anderson, Sloan Kettering, Michigan, Mayo, Vanderbilt, Moffitt, UCSD, Columbia, Yale. Independent researchers or smaller institutions should establish collaborations with NCI-designated centers before applying.

7. Glioblastoma focus is non-negotiable. Do not apply with a general brain cancer, pediatric brain tumor, or adjacent oncology proposal. The focus is specifically adult malignant glioma / glioblastoma multiforme (GBM). Every funded project in the grant record is GBM-specific.