Donations to Cancer Research Nonprofits May Have to Take up the Slack

As federal grants and funding for childhood cancer research face new challenges this year, researchers are scrambling to find alternative ways to continue their work. Because governmental spending is in a state of flux, privately funded grants are more important than ever.

Local nonprofit The Cure Starts Now Foundation already has received $20.2 million in funding requests from researchers this year, nearly 80% of the total amount they have funded over the past 18 years. At the same time, research funding from the government is projected to be reduced by more than 30% this year according to the Fiscal Year 2026 Discretionary Budget Request.

“Without consistent funding, critical research can stall,” said The Cure Starts Now chairman and co-founder, Keith Desserich. “Research funding we desperately need is scarce, and it’s not always enough to keep pace with the urgent need for better treatments and a cure.”

Researchers from 6 countries and 36 institutions submitted 50 grant proposals to The Cure Starts Now with novel concepts that could radically change how brain cancer is treated in the future.

“These researchers are working on groundbreaking ideas that have the potential to save lives,” Desserich said. “Their work could one day be the answer for families of children fighting brain cancer who today have little to no treatment options and no cure in sight.”

The Cure Starts Now is a privately funded foundation that focuses on supporting research into the rarest, most aggressive forms of cancer. Their primary emphasis is on deadly childhood brain cancers that are the most difficult to treat, with the belief that through a cure for those, it may lead to a Homerun Cure™ for all cancers. While research over the last 10 years has helped double the survival time for patients with cancer such as DIPG (diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma), the median survival range is still only 8-11 months.

Grassroots Organizations Pick Up Where the Government Leaves Off

Many of the proposals The Cure Starts Now has received are ready to begin clinical trials, building on years of foundational work. Others present visionary approaches that target cancer’s toughest forms with smarter, safer methods, from precision immunotherapies to targeted gene therapy and revolutionary radiation techniques. Researchers submitted ideas on a wide array of topics, including the following:

• A combined CAR T-cell/FLASH radiation therapy that could result in better tumor control and fewer side effects.
• Immune system training using cutting-edge T-cell therapies that don’t require invasive biopsies, making treatment more accessible.
• RNA nanoparticle vaccines that harness the same principles as modern mRNA COVID vaccines, adapted to fight deadly brain tumors.
• Focused ultrasound and blood-brain barrier breakthroughs that improve drug delivery where it's needed most—directly into tumors.
• CAR T-cell innovations designed not just to attack cancer but to work smarter, last longer, and reach deeper.

“These studies have the potential to change the landscape for families battling cancer,” Desserich said. “We are at a point where the great strides we’ve made in cancer research could come to a standstill. Funding is crucial for us to continue our work of furthering research so that we can learn as much as possible and give children with these deadly cancers a chance to survive.”

In the last three years, The Cure Starts Now has funded over $7.4 million in research—one-third of what they are being asked to fund in 2025 alone.

To make a donation, visit donate2csn.org