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.

2022

SMALL MOLECULE REGULATION OF REST PROTEIN LEVELS PROVIDES AN IDEAL PLATFORM FOR DEVELOPING A NEW THERAPEUTIC FOR THE TREATMENT OF GLIOBLASTOMA MULTIFORME.

PIs: Dionicio Rhodes Siegel, Ph.D.
Professor, School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences,
UC San Diego

PIs: Yan Jessie Zhang, Ph.D.
Professor
University of Texas, Austin

$600,000 over two years

ASSESS COMBINATIONS OF SMALL MOLECULES AND IMMUNOTHERAPIES FOR KILLING GLIOBLASTOMA TUMOR CELLS IN A PERSONALIZED EX VIVO ECOSYSTEM WITH INTACT TUMOR MICROENVIRONMENT USING MULTIPLEX IMMUNOCHEMISTRY AND SPATIAL MAPPING OF CELL TYPES.

PI: Ralph B. Puchalski, Ph.D.
Research Scientist
Swedish Health Services

$600,000 over two years

DISCOVER AND DESCRIBE DORMANT TUMOR CELLS CALLED CANCER STEM CELLS THAT RESIDE WITHIN ADULT GLIOMA AND ARE RESISTANT TO CURRENT THERAPIES.

PI: Luis F. Parada, Ph.D.
Director, Brain Tumor Center,
Member, Cancer Biology and Genetics Program, Sloan Kettering Institute
Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center

$600,000 over two years

PROJECT SEEKS TO PRECLINICALLY OPTIMIZE NOVEL THERAPEUTIC APPROACHES FOR ATRX-DEFICIENT MALIGNANT GLIOMAS TARGETING G-QUADRUPLEX DNA SECONDARY STRUCTURE.

PIs: Jason T. Huse, M.D., Ph.D.
Professor with Tenure, Departments of Pathology and Translational Molecular Pathology
University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center

PIs: Jiangbing Zhou, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Neurosurgery and of Biomedical Engineering
Yale University

$600,000 over two years

IDENTIFY THE ONCOGENIC SIGNALING DEPENDENCIES THAT CHARACTERIZE EACH OF THE CELLULAR SUBPOPULATIONS THAT COMPRISE A GLIOBLASTOMA TUMOR, AND FROM THIS INFORMATION CONSTRUCT A NON-TOXIC COMBINATION OF KINASE INHIBITORS TO EFFECTIVELY TREAT THIS DISEASE.

PIs: Steven Rosenfeld, M.D., Ph.D.
Professor, Departments of Oncology, Neurology, and Molecular Pharmacology
Deputy Director
Mayo Clinic Comprehensive Cancer Center

PIs: Peter D. Canoll, M.D., Ph.D.
Director of Neuropathology
Professor of Pathology and Cell Biology
Columbia University, Department of Pathology and Cell Biology

$600,000 over two years

EVALUATE CANDIDATE GLIOMA CSF PROTEOMIC SIGNATURES TO HELP UNDERSTAND AND MONITOR GLIOMA EVOLUTION IN LIVING PATIENTS DURING STANDARD OF CARE AND EXPERIMENTAL IMMUNOTHERAPY.

PIs: Terry C. Burns, M.D., Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Neurologic Surgery
Mayo Clinic, Rochester

PIs: Ian F. Parney, M.D., Ph.D.
Professor, Department of Neurological Surgery
Mayo Clinic, Rochester

PIs: Jian Li Campian, M.D., Ph.D.
Senior Associate Consultant
Mayo Clinic, Rochester

$600,000 over two years

DEVELOP SAFE AND POTENT DRUGS THAT CAN TURN THE TUMOR IMMUNE MICROENVIRONMENT FROM SUPPRESSIVE TO PERMISSIVE, THEREBY HELPING THE IMMUNE SYSTEM TO RECOGNIZE AND KILL GLIOBLASTOMA.

PIs: Jian Hu, Ph.D.
Associate Professor, Department of Cancer Biology, Division of Basic Science Research
University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center

PIs: Dr. Yiwen Chen, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor, Department of Bioinformatics and Computational Biology
University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center

$500,000 over two years

TARGETING THE GLIOBLASTOMA MASTER REGULATOR CEBPβ– A PHARMACOKINETICS AND PHARMACODYNAMICS SURGICAL STUDY OF ST101.

PI: Fabio M. Iwamoto, M.D.
Assistant Professor of Neurology
Deputy Director, Division of Neuro-Oncology
Columbia University Irving Medical Center

$500,000 over two years