Our Funding Strategy
We make large, meaningful, concentrated investments in the research projects with the greatest potential to advance.
We evaluate more than great science.
Our Scientific Advisory Council considers scientific evidence, innovation, unmet need, and potential impact. Our Industry Advisory Council brings a complementary lens, considering the real-world path ahead, including clinical trials, regulation, manufacturing, development, and commercialization.
Together, they help us answer two critical questions:
Is this great science? And can it realistically become a treatment?
We invest enough to move promising research forward.
Rather than spreading funding across many smaller awards, CureSearch makes fewer, larger, more purposeful investments. Concentrated funding gives researchers the resources to reach meaningful milestones, retain critical talent and infrastructure, adapt as the science evolves, and keep promising projects from becoming stranded.
Why promising science stalls
A discovery is only the beginning.
A promising result in the laboratory does not automatically become a treatment. Bringing a potential treatment to patients requires rigorous testing, reliable manufacturing, and a clear plan for navigating regulatory requirements and conducting clinical trials. These essential steps demand specialized expertise and substantial investment.
But funding does not always follow promising science. Federal funding often supports early discoveries, while pharmaceutical companies are more likely to invest later, when there is stronger evidence that a treatment could succeed.
In between lies the work that could turn a promising discovery into a life-changing treatment. Yet this critical stretch of research, from further laboratory testing to early clinical trials, can be left without the funding it needs.
This is the research gap. Without support for these essential steps, promising research can stall before it ever has the chance to benefit children.
CureSearch focuses its research investments in this gap, supporting the critical work needed to bring potential treatments to children. Philanthropy can make the difference between a discovery that stays in the lab and a treatment that changes a child’s life.
From discovery to approval
We fund the research gap.
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Basic Research
Understanding childhood cancer biology.
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Drug Discovery & Design
Designing promising new therapies and selecting candidates to advance.
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Preclinical Development
Testing safety and effectiveness before studies can move into people.
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Early-Phase Clinical Trials
Evaluating safety, dosage, and early signals in patients.
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Late-Phase Clinical Trials
Confirming effectiveness and monitoring safety in larger patient groups.
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FDA Review & Approval
Regulatory review determines whether a therapy can be approved.
How we invest
We make smart investments where we can make the greatest difference for the kids who need us most.
We prioritize research addressing childhood cancers with poor survival, limited treatment options, and serious or lasting treatment side effects. Across childhood cancer types, we focus on projects with the potential to close critical treatment gaps and improve outcomes for children.
Every investment is evaluated through two complementary lenses: scientific excellence and a credible path to patients. Scientific and industry expertise inform our funding decisions, helping us select projects that combine strong science with real potential to lead to new treatments for children.
We make substantial, multiyear investments in a select group of promising projects. Funding is matched to each project’s stage of development, specific needs, and meaningful milestones, giving researchers the resources to pursue ambitious research goals.
Our involvement does not end when a grant is awarded. We review progress against clear milestones, assess results, and monitor emerging barriers. This ongoing oversight reinforces accountability and keeps our investments focused on the work needed to develop better treatments for children.
Three Award Programs. One shared purpose.
Our Young Investigator, Acceleration Initiative, and Catapult Awards put this strategy into practice, supporting promising early-career researchers, preclinical development, and early-phase clinical trials. Each program addresses a different research need, with a shared purpose: bringing better, safer treatments closer to children with cancer.
The next treatment starts here
Help make the next treatment possible.
Scientific discoveries are creating new possibilities for children with cancer. Your support helps fund the work needed to turn that promise into better treatments and better futures.
