Spotlight
For patients and families facing pancreatic cancer, there are few promising treatments. Pancreatic tumors are especially difficult to treat and often resist therapies that work against other cancers. Pancreatic tumors create a formidable defense, surrounding themselves with dense scar tissue and immune cells that suppress the body’s natural response. Immune cells struggle to reach the cancer, and treatments that succeed against other tumors often fall short. A new gift from Len and Emily Blavatnik and the Blavatnik Family Foundation will help Mount Sinai researchers explore new treatment approaches. The Foundation’s $1 million commitment supports Leona Kim-Schluger, MD, Associate Director of the Recanati/Miller Transplantation Institute at Mount Sinai, for innovative pancreatic cancer research. Dr. Kim-Schluger is sharing the gift with Miriam Merad, MD, PhD, and Brian Brown, PhD, providing early support to investigate how the immune system might be prompted to recognize and destroy pancreatic tumors.
King’s College London is delighted to announce a significant new philanthropic partnership with the Blavatnik Family Foundation, powered by a £1,000,000 gift to launch a new Transatlantic Security Project on International Order, Technological Change, and Future Alliances. Based within the world-leading War Studies Department in the School of Social Science and Public Policy, this project will strengthen dialogue on the future of the transatlantic alliance at a time of unprecedented change and help shape policy responses to emerging global challenges. Thanks to the generosity, vision, and shared ambition of Sir Leonard Blavatnik via the Blavatnik Family Foundation, the Transatlantic Security Project will be led by the Centre for Statecraft and National Security and will run for the next five years. This new partnership will build on the existing expertise of the Centre, which is led by Professor John Bew CMG, former foreign policy adviser to four UK Prime Ministers, and Dr Shiraz Maher, a world-leading expert on Middle East history and politics.
The Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) is pleased to announce a transformative $15 million gift from the Blavatnik Family Foundation to strengthen and expand the Blavatnik Internship Program. Including both endowment and current-use support, this generous commitment more than doubles the foundation’s original investment in the program and builds on its remarkable success. “We hope this expanded program will open doors for the next generation of leaders and equip them to tackle the defining challenges of our time,” said Len Blavatnik, founder of Access Industries and CFR life member. This new gift allows CFR to grow its program by offering full-time internships for the summer cohort and to meet growing operating costs. The expansion will give participants a richer, more sustained experience at the institution, deepening their engagement with CFR’s scholars and programs. The Blavatnik Internship Program reflects CFR’s commitment to cultivating diverse, talented voices in the foreign policy community and preparing tomorrow’s global experts to navigate an increasingly complex world.
In TIME, Nicholas B. Dirks, president and CEO of the New York Academy of Sciences, makes the case for investing in scientists, not just projects. He highlights the Blavatnik Awards for Young Scientists as a model of unrestricted support. The Awards give early-career researchers the freedom to decide how funding can best advance their science. This flexibility enables exploration beyond the constraints of conventional grants. Dirks notes that recipients have founded more than 50 companies, while emphasizing that scientific impact extends beyond commercial success. Philanthropy, he argues, complements public and institutional funding by supporting curiosity and discovery.
Providing many of the world's best researchers, scientists, and universities with support, and funding to discover breakthroughs that solve humankind's greatest challenges.
The Foundation contributes to renowned institutions that showcase the breadth of arts and culture, including performance, exhibition and education.
The Blavatnik Archive is a nonprofit foundation dedicated to preserving and disseminating materials that contribute to the study of 20th-century Jewish and world history, with a special emphasis on World War I, World War II, and Soviet Russia.
