Care research: The importance of philanthropy In this exclusive interview, Dr Benson from the Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center explores the importance of philanthropy and the power it has to drive innovation and collaboration, particularly in cancer research and patient care. How does philanthropic funding specifically accelerate or enable early-stage research that might be considered too high-risk for traditional government or industry grants? That is a good point because although there are some grants that support the study of very early, riskier types of research, more commonly a grant requires at least reasonably convincing preliminary data to support the next research step. This can be particularly challenging for early-career investigators because, in terms of risk, some grants want to ensure the investigator has a good chance of success. If you are a more senior investigator or have already successfully obtained grants and published completed projects, grant funding organisations might see you as a less risky investigator or research team to support.
Al B. Benson (Thu,) studied this question.