Glioblastoma Research Program (GRMRP) is a grant initiative led by The Mark Foundation for Cancer Research and The Sontag Foundation, in coalition with other philanthropies and brain cancer leaders, that funds innovative, cross-disciplinary research aimed at improving the diagnosis and treatment of glioblastoma.

The program emerged from the "No Stone Unturned" workshop held in Chicago in November 2024, which convened global leaders in neuro-oncology to identify the most critical barriers to progress in GBM. Eligible recipients are scientists and research teams pursuing bold therapeutic ideas and cross-institutional collaborations in glioblastoma.

Partnering to Advance Glioblastoma Research | The Mark Foundation for Cancer Research The Mark Foundation for Cancer Research The Mark Foundation for Cancer Research Partnering to Advance Glioblastoma Research Changing the Future of Glioblastoma Care Glioblastoma (GBM) is the most aggressive and common primary malignant brain tumor in adults, and for decades, it has remained fundamentally incurable.

With a median survival of less than 18 months and long-term survival rates below 10%, a therapeutic breakthrough is desperately needed. In recognition of this critical challenge, The Mark Foundation for Cancer Research and The Sontag Foundation are leading a coalition of philanthropies and brain cancer leaders to fund research aimed at overcoming the obstacles to effective diagnosis and treatment.

By enabling bold, cross-disciplinary science, the coalition aims to transform the future of glioblastoma care and offer new hope to patients and families. The No Stone Unturned Workshop To overcome the many obstacles to progress in developing effective glioblastoma therapies, The Mark Foundation and Sontag Foundation co-hosted a landmark scientific workshop in Chicago in November 2024.

Titled No Stone Unturned: Relentless Pursuit of a Cure for Glioblastoma , the workshop was organized by William Kaelin Jr., MD (Dana-Farber Cancer Institute), Sheila Singh, MD, PhD (King’s College London), and Timothy Cloughesy, MD (UCLA), who brought together global leaders in neuro-oncology and translational science.

Workshop participants discussed new approaches to identification, validation, and drug discovery for new targets, sparking new collaborations and laying the groundwork for our funding strategy. Learn more about the workshop. In 2026, partner organizations Fondation Anne et Claude Berda , the National Brain Tumor Society , the Southeastern Brain Tumor Foundation , and the Uncle Kory Foundation joined the coalition.

2026 Awarded Research Projects In February 2026, the coalition announced that the following five researchers and teams have been awarded grant funding to pursue research aimed at changing the current glioblastoma treatment paradigm.

These grants were made possible in part by generous support from the families of Amiram Elwork and Rachael Elwork Wells, in whose memory this work is dedicated, honoring the lives of a father and daughter both lost to glioblastoma.

Aneuploidies as a Source of Therapeutic Targets in Glioblastoma Rameen Beroukhim, MD, PhD, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute William Kaelin Jr., MD; and Keith Ligon, MD, PhD , Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard Daniel Schramek, PhD, Lunenfeld-Tanenbaum Research Institute Jason Moffat, PhD, The Hospital for Sick Children Antisense Oligonucleotides (ASOs) Targeting the Long Noncoding RNA as Novel Immunotherapeutic Agents in Glioblastoma E.

Antonio Chiocca, MD, PhD and Marco Mineo, PhD, Brigham and Women’s Hospital Targeting Platelet-Immune Cell Interactions for Next-Generation Glioblastoma Therapies Justin Lathia, PhD, Cleveland Clinic Identifying Drivers and Therapeutic Targets in IDH-Mutant and IDH-Wildtype Glioma Daniel Schramek, PhD, Lunenfeld-Tanenbaum Research Institute, and Daniel Wahl, MD, PhD, University of Michigan Spatial Profiling of CAR T Cell Interactions and Activation States in the Tumor Microenvironment of High-Grade Gliomas Peter Sorger, PhD, Harvard Medical School, and Christine Brown, PhD, City of Hope