The Prebys Foundation in partnership with the Science Philanthropy Alliance launched a $7 million program designed to bring more diverse perspectives into the laboratory and yield ground-breaking medical research. The initiative seeks to address the critical gap in women and underrepresented groups in leading research positions by offering substantial funding to researchers for projects that might otherwise go unsupported.
About the Grant Opportunity
The Prebys Research Heroes program awards 14 two-year grants, each providing $500,000, to researchers demonstrating exceptional promise in areas critical to advancing medical science, including liver, gastric, and pancreatic cancer, Alzheimer’s disease, infectious disease, and mental health, among others.
The recipients of the grants are conducting research at key institutions in San Diego, a region increasingly recognized as a vital center for medical innovation. These institutions are at the forefront of diversifying labs and embracing a wider array of scientific questions and methodologies, thereby enriching the research community. They are: La Jolla Institute of Immunology; Salk Institute; San Diego State University; Scripps Research Institute; University of California, San Diego; and University of San Diego.
Why it Matters
This initiative comes at a crucial time when federal funding often overlooks high-risk, high-reward research. By stepping in to fill this gap, The Prebys Foundation and its partners hope to set a new standard for philanthropic support in science — encouraging more inclusive, exploratory, and promising research. Critically, the announcement comes as the White House released a new initiative on Women’s Health Research. The President’s Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA‑H) Spring for Women’s Health intends to fundamentally change the trajectory of women’s health care research and radically accelerate the next generation of discoveries.
