Research Funded To Date

The Ben and Catherine Ivy Foundation is dedicated to finding a cure for brain cancer. We strive in improve the quality of life and increase the life expectancy of those diagnosed with brain cancer by funding promising research that creates more diagnostics and treatments for patients.

Since 2008, we have funded 40 separate institutions with over 120 different research grants totaling over $174 million. These grants have involved research in phase 0 clinical trials, biomarkers, genomics, imaging, immunotherapy, stem cell, vaccines, and the development of possible new drugs.

2025

MEASURING AND INHIBITING SERINE METABOLISM IN IDH MUTANT GLIOMAS

PI: Daniel R. Wahl, MD, PhD
Associate Professor of Radiation Oncology
Regents of the University of Michigan

Wajd Al-Holou, MD
Assistant Professor of Neurosurgery
Regents of the University of Michigan

Award: $600,000 over two years

PATIENT REFINED ENROLLMENT TO GLIOBLASTOMA UMBRELLA SIGNATURE TRIAL (PRE-GUST)

PI: Michael Berens, PhD
Professor
The Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen)

Kamel Lahouel, PhD
Assistant Professor
The Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen)

Award: $600,000 over two years

ENHANCING EGFR INHIBITOR EFFICACY IN GLIOBLASTOMA

PI: Shwetal Mehta, PhD
Professor and Deputy Director
Ivy Brain Tumor Center, Barrow Neurological Institute

An-Chi, Tein, PhD
Assistant Professor
Ivy Brain Tumor Center, Barrow Neurological Institute

Award: $600,000 over two years

PRECISION RADIOTHERAPY OF GLIOBLASTOMA ENABLED BY AMIDE PROTON TRANSFER MRI

PI: Jinyuan Zhou, PhD
Professor of Radiology and Oncology
Johns Hopkins University

Kristin Janson Redmond, MD
Associate Professor
Johns Hopkins University

Award: $600,000 over two years

TACKLING GLIOBLASTOMAS DRIVEN BY GENOMIC HAPLOIDIZATION

PI: David A. Solomon, MD, PhD
Director of Neuropathology and Associate Professor
Stanford Brain Tumor Center

Award: $500,000 over two years

A NOVEL THERAPEUTIC STRATEGY AND COMPANION DIAGNOSTIC TO TARGET GLUTAMATERGIC SIGNALING IN GLIOBLASTOMA

PI: Corinne Beinat, PhD
Assistant Professor of Radiology
Stanford University

Thomas Jude Montine, MD, PhD
Chair, Department of Pathology
Stanford University

Award: $500,000 over two years

EVALUATION OF REDOX‐BASED COMBINATORIAL STRATEGIES FOR GLIOBLASTOMA THERAPY

PI: Artak Tovmasyan, PhD
Associate Professor, Research
Ivy Brain Tumor Center, Barrow Neurological Institute

Award: $500,000 over two years

ABLATING 1D01 FOR IMPROVING IMMUNOTHERAPEUTIC EFFICACY AGAINST GLIOBLASTOMA

PI: Derek A. Wainwright, PhD
Associate Professor (Tenured), Departments of Cancer Biology and Neurological Surgery
Loyola University Chicago Strich School of Medicine

Gary E. Schittz, PhD
Medicinal Chemist
Northwestern University

Rimas Lukas, MD
Associate Professor, Neuro-Oncologists
Northwestern University

Qunfeng Dong, PhD
Professor, Computational Biologists & Biostatistician
Loyola University

Award: $500,000 over two years

NEUROLOGICAL SCIENCES INTERNSHIP PROGRAM AT TGEN DESIGNED TO GIVE HIGH SCHOOL AND UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS INTENSIVE, HANDS-ON RESEARCH EXPERIENCE WORKING ALONGSIDE A MENTOR-SCIENTIST TO LEARN ABOUT TRANSLATIONAL RESEARCH WHILE INVESTIGATING QIESTIONS WITHIN THE NEUROLOGICAL SCIENCES

PI: Kristen Kaus
Manager of Education and Outreach
Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGEN)

Award: $101,314