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 33 separate institutions with over 107 different research grants totaling over $150 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.
2021
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 QUESTIONS WITHIN THE NEUROLOGICAL SCIENCES.
Pl: Kristen Kaus
Manager of Education and Outreach
Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen)
USE OF A NOVEL TRANSFORMATIONAL PLATFORM FOR RAPID IDENTIFICATION OF TARGETS AND TREATMENTS TO INHIBIT GROWTH AND INVASION OF GLIOBLASTOMA CELLS BASED ON RAPID PATIENT SAMPLE SCREENING USING NOVEL NANO-ENGINEERING TECHNIQUES.
Pl: Andre Levchenko, Ph.D.
John C. Malone Professor of Biomedical Engineering
Director of Yale Systems Biology Institute
Director of Cancer Systems Biology
Yale University
PRECLINICAL INVESTIGATION OF FOCUS ULTRASOUND GUIDED DELIVERY TO FACILITATE A LIPOPROTEIN-OMEGA-3 FATTY ACID-BASED BIOLOGICAL THERAPY IN GLIOBLASTOMA.
Pl: Ian Corbin, Ph.D.
Associate Professor, Advanced Imaging Research Center Radiology
University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas
IDENTIFY MECHANISMS UNDERLYING INFLAMMATORY CELL CONTRIBUTION TO THE EMERGENCE OF THE RECURRENT TUMOR BY SINGLE-CELL ANALYSIS OF RESIDUAL DISEASE IN GLIOBLASTOMA PATIENTS.
Pl: Sara Piccirillo, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor, Department of Cell Biology and Physiology
Full Member, University of New Mexico Comprehensive Cancer Center
University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center
NEW METHODS WILL BE DEVELOPED TO MEASURE THE ACTIVITY OF TUMOR METABOLIC PATHWAYS IN PATIENTS WITH GLIOBLASTOMA AND TO DETERMINE WHETHER DRUGS DESIGNED TO BLOCK THESE PATHWAYS ARE SUITABLE.
Pl: Daniel Wahl, MD, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor, Department of Radiation Oncology
University of Michigan
USING PATIENT DERIVED ORTHOTOPIC XENOGRAFT MODELS AND A NOVEL IMMUNOCOMPETENT MODEL OF GBM, THE EFFICACY OF A MTl-MMP INHIBITOR IN COMBINATION WITH RADIATION/TMZ WILL BE TESTED TO DETERMINE ITS EFFECTS ON THE IMMUNE COMPONENT OF THE TUMOR MICROENVIRONMENT.
Pl: Barbara Bedogni, Ph.D.
Associate Professor, Dr. Phillip Frost Department of Dermatology and Cutaneous Surgery
University of Miami Miller School of Medicine
IMMUNOSTIMULATORY BACTERIAL ANTIGENS EXPRESSED IN ONCOLYTIC VIRAL PLATFORMS WILL BE TESTED IN PRECLINICAL MODELS OF GLIOBLASTOMA TO OVERCOME IMMUNE CHECKPOINT INHIBITOR RESISTANCE.
Pl: Evanthia Galanis, MD
Professor of Oncology and Sandra J. Schulze Professor of Novel Therapeutics
Mayo Clinic College of Medicine
IN EXAMINING THE ROLE OF TUMORS CELLS IN MODULATING BONE MARROW-DERIVED MACROPHAGES AND MICROGLIA, THIS STUDY SEEKS TO TAILOR NOVEL THERAPEUTICS FOR TARGETING OF TUMOR ASSOCIATED MACROPHAGES.
Pl: Filippo Veglia, Ph.D.
Assistant Member, Department of Immunology
H Lee Moffitt Cancer Center
TO INHIBIT TUMOR CELL INVASION AND INVASION, TARGETED THERAPEUTICS WILL BE COUPLED TO BIOMARKER-BASED IMAGING IN PATIENT-SPECIFIC MODELS OF GLIOBLASTOMA.
Pl: Jennifer Munson, Ph.D.
Associate Professor, Fralin Biomedical Research Institute
Department Biomedical Engineering & Mechanics
Virginia Tech
USING SINGLE-CELL AND SYSTEMS BIOLOGY APPROACHES IN GLIOBLASTOMA, CELL SUBTYPES WILL BE MAPPED TO GLIOBLASTOMA TISSUES AND EXPERIMENTAL MODELS, ENABLING IDENTIFICATION AND PRECLINICAL TARGETING OF INTERACTIONS BETWEEN CANCER CELLS, IMMUNE CELLS, AND LOCATION SPECIFIC RESIDENT BRAIN CELLS.
Pl: Rebecca lhrie, Ph.D.
Associate Professor, Cell & Developmental Biology and Neurological Surgery
Vanderbilt University