In 2008, The Ben and Catherine Ivy Foundation plans to award $12 million in research funding in support of multi-year research projects that address clinically relevant questions in diverse research areas.

“The Ben and Catherine Ivy Foundation has heard from researchers across the country about the difficulty in obtaining funding for brain tumor research” said Catherine Ivy, the Ben and Catherine Ivy Foundation Founder and Board President. “We realize that improving diagnostics and treatments for patients goes beyond simply increasing funding in this area, but will require us to be strategic in our funding preferences and engage in a joint-venture investment partnership with awardees with an expected return over time measured by milestones and results.”

To date, the Ivy Foundation has committed $3M to the Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen) for Phase I of the Ivy Genomics-Based Medicine (G.B.M.) Project. Phase I is a two-year project that creates a new consortium of nine academic and research institutions for preclinical testing of drugs against glioblastoma to determine drug efficacy as a function of tumor genetic profile. The overall goal is to demonstrate that genomics can be used to improve treatment selection and outcomes for patients with recurrent glioblastoma multiforme.

“The Ivy G.B.M. Project represents our commitment to supporting collaborative efforts because that is one of the ways we can advance brain tumor research” says Rob Tufel, Ivy Foundation Executive Director.

In the Fall of 2008, the Ivy Foundation will announce an additional $9 million in funding for several three-year research projects in glioma.

“My husband Ben and I hoped we could use the business principles and strategies learned in our careers as financial planners and apply them to philanthropy” adds Catherine. “We believe the influx of new projects funded by the Ben and Catherine Ivy Foundation can have a significant impact on advancing brain cancer research and, more importantly, on the lives of patients.”