The FUS Foundation’s Research Award Program has received a major funding boost from a $1 million commitment recently made by the Robertson Foundation.
“We are delighted and honored to gain the support of the Robertson Foundation and are completely aligned with its targeted, disciplined, results-oriented approach to philanthropy,” says FUS Foundation Chairman Neal Kassell, MD. “This funding will enable us to advance our mission by investing in highly worthy and promising research projects in the field of focused ultrasound.”
The Robertson Foundation was established in 1996 by Tiger Management founder Julian H. Robertson, Jr., his wife Josie, and their family. Medical research is one of four principal areas it supports.
“Focused ultrasound is an exciting new technology,” says Julian Robertson. “We are pleased to support research into this noninvasive medical therapy which has huge potential”.
About the Research Awards Program
Since 2007, the FUS Foundation’s Research Awards Program has provided more than $2 million in funding for 23 investigator-initiated projects ranging from preclinical research to pilot clinical trials using focused ultrasound. Treatments under investigation have included essential tremor, neuropathic pain and functional brain disorders, as well as tumors of the breast, liver and pancreas.
The Research Awards Program is designed to fill a funding void by providing “seed money” for highly promising focused ultrasound studies. It enables researchers to compile the preliminary data needed to apply for more substantial grants – from government agencies and other sources— that are needed to move their work toward clinical reality. Awards are typically $100,000 for a 12-month period.
In recent months, the Research Awards Program has taken steps to increase its effectiveness and impact by adopting two funding tracks. The first encompasses preclinical and pilot clinical studies that promise to lead to the development of unmet clinical needs or treatments that are superior to current therapies. The second covers high-risk, early-stage, proof-of-concept projects that are unlikely to receive funding from other sources but that, if successful, could have a profound impact on the advancement of the field of focused ultrasound.
Written by Ellen C., McKenna