Special funds have been created that may provide you with the opportunity to direct your contributions to research that matters to you. These funds include:

COVID-19 Research Fund

Your gift to the COVID-19 Research Fund will support several biomedical scientists at Lankenau Institute for Medical Research (LIMR) who have pivoted their research to battling the coronavirus. In particular, they are advancing studies to better diagnose, treat and prevent COVID-19 infection.

Immunotherapy Pioneer Fund

Support immunotherapy research
Immunotherapy entails the prevention or treatment of disease with substances that stimulate an immune response. LIMR has spearheaded unique studies of disease modifier pathways that impact immunity and cancer progression, developing new drugs to target them.

Indeed, immunotherapy is revolutionizing cancer care, and LIMR is at the forefront of that continued effort. Your generous contributions to the LIMR Immunotherapy Fund can help us advance those innovative therapies.

Regenerative Medicine Vision Fund

Support regenerative research
Regenerative medicine is a term used to describe a branch of molecular biology that deals with the process of replacing, engineering or regenerating human cells, tissues or organs to restore or establish normal function.

LIMR is privileged to have one of the pioneers in regenerative medicine, Professor Ellen Heber-Katz, PhD, as a principal investigator. Dr. Heber-Katz is an internationally renowned immunologist who has made great strides in discovering the mechanisms of mammalian regeneration.

Your contributions to the Regenerative Medicine Fund will help further the research of Dr. Heber-Katz and her team, enabling them to continue their groundbreaking work that holds significant promise for the future of health care.

Biotechnology Innovation Fund

Support biotech research
The Biotechnology Fund supports advancements of our work with sophisticated biological molecules that can enhance diagnosis, prognosis or treatment of disease.

Your generous contributions to this fund can help advance the work of our researchers, including, for example:

  • Susan Gilmour, PhD, is defining mechanisms by which tumor modifiers, such as polyamines and thrombin, support and accelerate the development of cancer to a malignant, metastatic state
  • Dr. Scott Dessain’s work on cloning human antibodies for use in the treatment of infectious disease, cancer and neurological illnesses
  • Marie Webster, PhD, seeks to understand the mechanisms underlying phenotype plasticity that contribute to therapy resistance and disease progression in melanoma.

Cardiovascular Breakthrough Fund

Support cardiovascular research
Cardiovascular disease accounts for nearly 800,000 deaths in the United States every year, according to the American Heart Association. That’s about one of every three deaths. Additionally, about 92 million American adults are living with some form of heart disease or the after-effects of stroke.

LIMR's investigators, who work closely with clinical colleagues at the Lankenau Heart Institute, include several world-renowned cardiovascular researchers:

  • Charles Antzelevitch, PhD, specializes in research on cardiac electrophysiology and arrhythmia syndromes. His research has helped establish diagnostic criteria and treatment approaches for both inherited and acquired arrhythmia syndromes. He was the recipient of the 2020 Lifetime Achievement Award, a prestigious honor bestowed by the American College of Cardiology.
  • Peter Kowey, MD, is a physician and scientist who specializes in electrophysiology.
  • Gan-Xin Yan, MD, PhD, is an electrophysiologist and researcher whose studies of arrhythmias have contributed to an understanding of J wave syndromes. His innovation, arterially perfused ventricular wedge preparation (or wedge prep), is markedly impacting pharmaceutical development in the U.S.

Your gift to the LIMR Cardiovascular Fund will help further research that could benefit the lives of millions of heart disease and stroke patients.

LIMR Unrestricted Fund

Unrestricted gifts to LIMR are important because they allow us to decide where that gift will have the most impact.