Filling the Gaps with Crucial Cancer Research Funding

With so many institutions now faced with uncertain circumstances, though, the Vince Lombardi Cancer Foundation’s goal has evolved to help enable medical research to continue.

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News Features

With the Trump administration’s ongoing budget cuts to different spheres, sectors and industries, the future of many organizations relying on governmental funding is ambiguous. The Medical College of Wisconsin (MCW), for example, relies on grants from the National Institute of Health (NIH) to continue conducting cancer research, but many of those grants have either been ended or delayed.

Some, however, are filling in the gaps where they can. The Vince Lombardi Cancer Foundation (VLCF) is one such body providing crucial grant support to scientists and researchers. The MCW had applied for a grant from the VLCF even before Trump took office, which it subsequently received in the amount of $80,000 dollars, the largest in the 2024 VLCF grant cycle. This particular grant is earmarked for an MCW research project exploring therapies for cancer metastasis.

As VLCF Executive Director Ann Marie Moss attests, the grants only go so far, and lots of organizations need them now more than ever. “The 2025 grant application closed on July 32 with 52 submissions, almost all for research funding, which is more than double the 23 applications received in 2024.”

She continues, “Even though we are clear that VLCF prioritizes applications from our home state of Wisconsin, there were submissions from 13 different states, illustrating the significant funding challenges that institutions now face.”

Empowering Medical Research

The VLCF strives to empower scientists in pursuit of promising hypotheses. With so many institutions now faced with uncertain circumstances, though, its goal has evolved to help enable such research to continue in general.

“We often fund smaller projects early in their research, which helps them gather the data required to apply for NIH funding,” Moss explains. “With the new funding environment, there is significant opportunity for us to provide bridge funds to our funded projects and others to meet that goal.”

Folks can support the VLCF with its grant making process through monetary donations, including through a monthly giving program, Lombardi’s League. Individuals enrolled in this program are awarded with membership benefits including access to special events. For more information, contact the VLCF at info@lombardifoundation.org.

“We can make an impact now, when it’s most needed, by coming together to invest in cancer research.” Moss affirms. “These projects are important. Since 1991, the mortality rate from a cancer diagnosis has decreased by 30%, all because of advances in treatments that were made possible by researchers here in the U.S.”

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