Cancer Research Institute

What Cancer Research Institute does

Cancer Research Institute (CRI), founded in 1953 and headquartered in New York, is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization and the world's only nonprofit dedicated exclusively to advancing cancer immunotherapy. Its mission is to harness the immune system to conquer all cancers, executed through three interconnected pillars: research funding programs (Irvington Postdoctoral Fellowship, Lloyd J. Old STARs, CLIP, Technology Impact Awards, Clinical Innovator Awards, and the new IGNITE Fellows), data and knowledge infrastructure (the CRI Discovery Engine with 10x Genomics, CRI iAtlas, the Cancer Immunotherapy Insights & Impact Report, and the Bioinformatics Bootcamp), and patient education and access resources (Patient Guide to Cancer Immunotherapy, ImmunoGlossary, Clinical Trial Navigator via CareBox, and immunotherapy stories). Over its 70+ year history, CRI has invested more than $570M in research scientists across 41 institutions in 15 US states and 5 countries, with its Scientific Advisory Council directed by 2018 Nobel Laureate James P. Allison.

CRI's business model is donation-driven rather than product-driven. Revenue is generated through charitable contributions (individual donors, corporate partners, and foundations), cause-marketing partnerships (e.g., Quilceda Creek Winery), event-based fundraising (galas and community drives), and co-funded grants with peer nonprofits (e.g., Mark Foundation, American Cancer Society, Israel Cancer Research Fund). Pharmaceutical partners including AbbVie, AstraZeneca, Bristol Myers Squibb, and Genentech provide financial and strategic support. Eighty percent of funds are directed to cancer research and patient programs. In 2025, CRI awarded $37M across 93 grants — its largest-ever annual grantmaking — in deliberate countercyclical response to federal NIH funding cuts. Recent strategic moves include the January 2026 launch of the AI-driven CRI Discovery Engine (partnering with 10x Genomics, Stanford, UPenn, and MSKCC to build a 20,000+ sample, 500M+ cell immuno-oncology dataset), the BR36 Phase 2/3 liquid biopsy-guided lung cancer immunotherapy trial with Labcorp, and a $2.5M co-funded aging-and-cancer research initiative with the Mark Foundation and Samuel Waxman Cancer Research Foundation.

Name

Cancer Research Institute

Legal name

Cancer Research Institute

Website

https://cancerresearch.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1953

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Cancer Research Institute is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, founded in 1953, dedicated exclusively to advancing cancer immunotherapy through research grants, AI-driven data infrastructure, and patient education, serving scientists across 41 institutions and patients worldwide.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Cancer Immunotherapy Research Nonprofit

NAICS

Research and Development in Biotechnology (except Nanobiotechnology) (541714), Scientific Research and Development Services (5417)

akta.pro primary industry

Specialty Therapeutic-Area CROs (e.g., oncology/rare disease) (HLAGAAAL)

akta.pro secondary industries

Clinical Data Management, Biostatistics & Statistical Programming CROs (HLAGAAAF), Patient Recruitment, Site Feasibility & Trial Enablement CROs (HLAGAAAI)

Keywords

• Cancer immunotherapy research
• Nonprofit research funding
• Clinical trial navigation
• Scientific grant programs
• Patient education resources

Headquarters

HQ city

New York

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Technology or R&D, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Personnel

Revenue model

1. Charitable Donations and Contributions: Individual donors, corporate partners, and foundations provide charitable contributions to fund immunotherapy research grants and programs.
2. Cause Marketing Partnerships: Partnerships with companies like Quilceda Creek Winery generate fundraising revenue through cause-driven product releases, with portions of sales supporting CRI research.
3. Event-Based Fundraising: Gala events, charity drives, and community fundraising initiatives that engage supporters and generate contributions for cancer research.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

CRI is a nonprofit organization that funds cancer immunotherapy research through grants and fellowships for scientists at institutions worldwide. It also develops shared data infrastructure (such as the CRI Discovery Engine and CRI iAtlas), publishes annual insights reports, and provides patient-facing resources including a clinical trial finder, educational guides, and immunotherapy glossaries.

Product overview

The Cancer Research Institute (CRI) is a nonprofit organization dedicated exclusively to advancing cancer immunotherapy. CRI's portfolio consists of three interconnected pillars: (1) Research Funding Programs — including the Irvington Postdoctoral Fellowship, Lloyd J. Old STARs Program, CLIP, Technology Impact Award, and Clinical Innovator Award — that provide financial support to scientists across all career stages; (2) Data & Knowledge Infrastructure — comprising the CRI Discovery Engine (AI-driven immuno-oncology dataset), CRI iAtlas (open-access immunological database), the annual Cancer Immunotherapy Insights & Impact Report, and the Bioinformatics Bootcamp — that accelerate discovery through shared data and analytics; and (3) Patient Education & Access Resources — including the Patient Guide to Cancer Immunotherapy, ImmunoGlossary, Clinical Trial Navigator (via CareBox), and immunotherapy stories — that help patients and caregivers understand and access immunotherapy treatments. Together these form a bench-to-bedside ecosystem connecting scientific discovery, data infrastructure, and patient-facing resources.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• CRI Irvington Postdoctoral Fellowship Postdoctoral fellowship program providing financial support and training to early-career immunology researchers at leading institutions, with $182M invested since 1970.
• CRI Lloyd J. Old STARs Program Grant program funding mid-career scientists pushing the boundaries of cancer immunotherapy research with $1.25M over five years per award, with $46M invested since 2019.
• CRI Clinical and Laboratory Integration Program (CLIP) Grant program supporting innovative investigations at the intersection of laboratory discovery and clinical application in cancer immunology with $300K over 2 years.
• CRI Technology Impact Award Seed funding of up to $600K over 2-4 years supporting high-risk/high-reward technology, platform, and tool development ideas in cancer immunotherapy.
• CRI Clinical Innovator Award Grant program supporting clinician-scientists advancing investigator-initiated immunotherapy clinical trials, with $8.5M+ invested across nine global trials.
• CRI Discovery Engine A shared AI-driven data infrastructure initiative standardizing and pooling cancer immunotherapy research data from multiple institutions, enabling reproducible AI-ready datasets to advance immunotherapy and vaccine discovery.
• CRI iAtlas An open online database developed with Sage Bionetworks and the Institute for Systems Biology that helps researchers worldwide study large-scale immunological datasets to understand patterns of patient response and toxicity.
• Clinical Trial Navigator A free clinical trial finder and navigator service in partnership with CareBox Health that helps patients identify immunotherapy clinical trials matched to their cancer type, biomarkers, and treatment history.
• Patient Guide to Cancer Immunotherapy A Q&A guide for patients and caregivers covering treatment basics, immunotherapy mechanisms, what to expect during treatment, key questions for care teams, and ongoing support resources.
• CRI ImmunoGlossary A comprehensive glossary providing clear definitions of medical and treatment terms patients and caregivers encounter during immunotherapy appointments and research.
• CRI Bioinformatics Bootcamp An immersive, hands-on training program equipping cancer researchers with skills to analyze complex biological data, including single-cell and spatial genomics data analysis.
• Immuno-Informatics Fellowship Program Fellowship program supporting outstanding early-career scientists worldwide who seek dual expertise in immunology and data science.
• Cancer Immunotherapy Insights & Impact Report An annual comprehensive data-driven analysis of FDA immunotherapy approvals, clinical utilization trends, and the future of precision immuno-oncology.

Quantifiable outcome

• 30 cancers are now treatable with immunotherapy
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers2 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability3 records

Feature4 records

Partnerships

14 partnerships are on record, tiered flagship, core and minor.

• The Mark Foundation for Cancer ResearchflagshipStrategic or Co-development Partner · 10 March 2026Co-announced $2.5 million in funding for five collaborative research grants at the intersection of aging biology and cancer, administered through the newly established Samuel Waxman Institute for Aging & Cancer. Part of a broader $15 million, three-year commitment.
• Samuel Waxman Cancer Research FoundationflagshipStrategic or Co-development Partner · 10 March 2026Partner in establishing the Samuel Waxman Institute for Aging & Cancer, administering $2.5 million in collaborative research grants focused on how aging biology influences cancer risk, progression, recurrence, and treatment response.
• American Cancer SocietycoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 10 March 2026Partner in the multi-organization initiative addressing research gaps on how aging biology influences cancer, supporting five collaborative research grants of $500,000 each over three years starting January 2026.
• Stanford University School of MedicinecoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 26 February 2026Partner in the CRI Discovery Engine initiative to standardize and pool cancer immunotherapy research data for AI-driven breakthroughs. Stanford is one of the pilot institutions contributing samples for the initiative.
• Harper Cancer Research Institute (University of Notre Dame)minorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 17 February 2026Academic partner in Proyecto ABRAZO, a pediatric oncology clinical trial evaluating digital CBT platform for pain management in children undergoing cancer treatment, enrolling 150 patients in Puebla, Mexico.
• University of Notre DameminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 17 February 2026Academic partner in Proyecto ABRAZO pediatric oncology clinical trial through its Harper Cancer Research Institute, collaborating on digital interventions for pediatric cancer pain management.
• Israel Cancer Research FundcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 22 January 2026Co-funding a $180,000 three-year grant to Dr. Asaf Madi of Tel Aviv University for research on improving tumor-infiltrating lymphocyte (TIL) therapy to overcome drug resistance in melanoma.
• 10x GenomicscoreTechnology or Integration · 12 January 2026Multi-phase collaboration to build one of the world's largest AI-driven immuno-oncology datasets combining single cell and spatial analysis of over 20,000 samples. The pilot phase involves approximately 3,000 samples from University of Pennsylvania, Stanford University, and Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, scaling to profile more than 500 million cells using 10x Chromium and Xenium platforms.
• University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of MedicinecoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 12 January 2026Pilot institution contributing approximately 3,000 samples to the CRI Discovery Engine initiative, one of the first institutions in the multi-phase collaboration to build AI-ready immuno-oncology datasets.
• Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer CentercoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 12 January 2026Pilot institution contributing samples to the CRI Discovery Engine initiative for single cell and spatial analysis to map the immune landscape of cancer.
• Quilceda Creek WineryminorGTM or Marketing Partner · 17 October 2025Charitable cause marketing partnership where the winery released rare library bottles with 50% of sales supporting CRI. The initiative raised $335,000 for cancer research, surpassing the $250,000 goal.
• Parker Institute for Cancer ImmunotherapycoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 19 May 2025Three-year collaboration with Alliance for Cancer Gene Therapy and CRI to study glioblastoma using 562 tissue samples from children and adults, advancing understanding of immunotherapy responses.
• American Association for Cancer Research (AACR)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerLong-standing partnership co-presenting the AACR-CRI Lloyd J. Old Award in Cancer Immunology and collaborative initiatives at the AACR Annual Meeting.
• Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer (SITC)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerAnnual collaboration bringing the prestigious CRI William B. Coley Award Lecture to the SITC Annual Meeting, with NK cell pioneer Éric Vivier delivering the inaugural lecture in 2026.

Scale indicators12 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Parker Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy: PICI is the closest direct peer — a nonprofit exclusively dedicated to cancer immunotherapy research, funding investigators at leading academic centers and running clinical trials. CRI and PICI even co-funded a glioblastoma study (2025), reflecting overlapping mission, model, and beneficiary institutions.
• Stand Up To Cancer: Nonprofit that funds collaborative, multi-institution 'Dream Teams' across cancer research, including immunotherapy. Operates a similar high-profile convening model with celebrity-driven fundraising, overlapping donor base and investigator networks with CRI.
• V Foundation for Cancer Research: Cancer research nonprofit funding high-impact translational and clinical research grants across institutions. Comparable grantmaking model, charity-rating profile, and donor demographics to CRI, with overlapping Scientific Advisory governance.
• Mark Foundation for Cancer Research: Cancer research nonprofit actively co-funding programs with CRI (the $2.5M Samuel Waxman Institute for Aging & Cancer). Highly comparable funding model targeting translational oncology and academic investigator support.
• Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation: Pioneering cancer research nonprofit best known for fellowship-based funding of early-career investigators. Highly comparable model to CRI's Irvington Fellowship, with similar donor profile and Nobel-caliber Scientific Advisory structure.
• National Foundation for Cancer Research: Nonprofit funding cancer research across U.S. institutions with focus on translational and early-stage science. Similar grantmaking scale and academic network to CRI, with overlapping researcher beneficiary pool.
• Israel Cancer Research Fund: Nonprofit funding cancer research at Israeli institutions, with direct co-funding partnership with CRI (the $180K TIL therapy grant to Dr. Asaf Madi). Highly comparable model and explicit program-level collaboration.

Broad incumbents

• American Cancer Society: Largest U.S. cancer nonprofit with comparable grantmaking, patient navigation, and research-funding footprint, but with much broader mandate beyond immunotherapy. CRI co-partners with ACS on the $2.5M aging-cancer initiative.
• Leukemia & Lymphoma Society: Large disease-specific cancer nonprofit funding immunotherapy and CAR-T research within hematologic malignancies. Comparable scale, donor mobilization capabilities, and patient-trial navigation services, though narrower disease focus.
• Susan G. Komen: Largest breast-cancer-focused nonprofit with extensive grantmaking, race-driven fundraising, and patient navigation. Comparable operational scale and donor mobilization to CRI, though narrower disease focus.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/CancerResearch
• YouTubeyoutube.com/user/cancerresearchinst
• Facebookfacebook.com/CancerResearchInstituteInc
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/the-cancer-research-institute
• Instagraminstagram.com/cancerresearchinstitute

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles10 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments5 records

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Cancer Research Institute