Some of the most important scientific questions sound compelling long before they look fundable. That is one of the problems with early-stage research. By the time an idea has enough preliminary data, enough validation, enough institutional support, and enough evidence to look “safe,” someone has already spent years doing the work required to make it look that way. The earliest stage is often where uncertainty is highest and evidence is thinnest, but it is also where some

Cancer research has a tendency to focus on the cancer cell itself. That makes sense. The cancer cell is the problem. But it isn’t acting alone. Once triple-negative breast cancer spreads to organs like the lung or liver, those cancer cells begin interacting with immune cells and other surrounding cells. Some of those cells may fight the cancer. Others can help it survive, grow, and establish metastatic tumors.

Government funding has an essential place in scientific research. It supports enormous amounts of work, creates infrastructure, and keeps entire fields moving. NIH and other public agencies can fund at a scale private philanthropy simply cannot match. But large public funding systems also have constraints. They have to be accountable. They rely on established criteria, formal review processes, fixed funding cycles, and layers of oversight. There are good reasons for all of

For years, I’ve funded cancer research behind the scenes. Now, we’re taking the conversation public, with the launch of Driving Research, the JKTG Foundation’s first-ever cancer research podcast. And we’re starting with a conversation that matters...