Our Legacy
A commitment to sustainable impact
The Sustainable Development Goals are at the heart of IDP Foundation’s work within education and beyond
Since IDP Foundation (IDPF) co-founders, Irene Pritzker and her daughter Liesel Pritzker Simmons first visited Ghana in 2008 it was clear that a focus on supporting local changemakers was key to achieving long-term impact. While IDP Foundation’s work in advancing progress to SDG 4 on education is at the core of our work (see IDPF’s education work) this commitment to learning and development drives all of our philanthropic work. Our philosophy of empowering key organizations or individuals best placed to effect change underpins all of IDPF’s grant-making, impact investing and collaborations.
Working together across disciplines, our physicians and scientists are translating discoveries into promising new approaches to prevent, diagnose and treat cancer. Our efforts and success through research would not be possible without the high-impact philanthropy provided by our partner, IDP Foundation, Inc. Together we are making an extraordinary difference!
I am honored to be the inaugural recipient of IDPF’s charitable commitment to establish the IDP Foundation Professorship in Skin Cancer Research. This is the highest honor that can be bestowed on a faculty member at Northwestern University. I will forever be grateful to IDPF for its forward-thinking philanthropy and confidence in my research endeavors.
Medical Research
Medical Research: Northwestern
Northwestern is a leading medical research center with brilliant scientists and bold breakthroughs.
To support innovations in medical research IDP Foundation Research Scientists Fund was established in 2008 to advance some of the most promising research being conducted at Northwestern Memorial Hospital and its affiliated centers, including the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine and The Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center of Northwestern University. The scientists who receive our support represent a variety of departments and fields, including Cancer, Neurological Sciences, Cardiology, Ophthalmology and Gastroenterology and other valued areas of medical research. These premier investigators are dedicated to advancing medical knowledge through pioneering research. The IDP Foundation Research Scientists Grants are a catalytic component to the continued success of the medical researchers.
Below are a few of the many esteemed Research Scientists supported by IDP Foundation.
Dr. Pedram Gerami
Department of Dermatology
IDPF has provided support to Dr. Gerami for the advancement of research in pediatric melanoma. Dr. Gerami is an international leader in molecular diagnostics and his research group has been involved in the development and implementation of molecular tests that have become integrated in the standard of care for difficult to diagnose melanocytic tumors.
Dr. Gerami is the the inaugural recipient of the IDP Foundation Professorship in Skin Cancer Research. Read more about his work here.
Dr. Surendra Basti
Department of Ophthalmology
With the IDP Foundation’s support, the Department of Ophthalmology has established the IDP Foundation Fellowship in Ophthalmology Fund, with a one-year funded research fellowship (beginning in 2019) working under Dr. Basti with Dr. Volpe as the Department Chair.
IDPF’s commitment has allowed this fund to be established in perpetuity and will encourage other donors to add their support in the future. Find out more here.
Dr. Nicholas Volpe
Department of Ophthalmology
With the IDP Foundation’s support, the Department of Ophthalmology has established the IDP Foundation Fellowship in Ophthalmology Fund, with a one-year funded research fellowship (beginning in 2019) working under Dr. Basti with Dr. Volpe as the Department Chair.
IDPF’s commitment has allowed this fund to be established in perpetuity and will encourage other donors to add their support in the future. Find out more here.
Dr. James D. Thomas
Department of Cardiology
Dr. Thomas and his team have used the IDPF grant to support the Heart Valve Disease Research Program. Most recently, Dr. Thomas’s team established the IDP Foundation Image Processing Laboratory that has become crucial in performing important cardiovascular research.
Dr. Robert Bonow
Department of Cardiology
Dr. Bonow is one of the lead faculty members in Northwestern’s Department of Cardiology and the Heart Valve Disease Research Program. He received IDPF support through the IDP Cardiac Research Innovation Grants.
Dr. Darren M. Brenner
Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology
The IDP Foundation has provided the opportunity to share the vision to establish the Northwestern Neurogastroenterology Program and to fund strategic priorities that will launch the program on a positive trajectory.
Dr. James Surmeier
Department of Physiology
IDPF’s grant to Dr. Surmeier and his team has supported the training of postdoctoral researchers focusing on unraveling the mechanisms that are driving Parkinson’s disease and identifying strategies that slow its progression.
IDP Foundation Research Innovation Challenge Grants
In 2014 IDP Foundation created a five-year program called the IDP Foundation Research Innovation Challenge Grants at Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center of Northwestern University to encourage a spirit of collaboration.
The commitment is currently providing “seed” grants to different projects with Lurie Cancer Center scientists and clinicians to address novel questions and explore new ideas.
Each year, the Lurie Cancer Center committee requests proposals from faculty members that pursued innovative, team-driven, cancer research projects that are translational in nature, cross-disciplinary, and collaborative. The committee decides which research scientists would receive the grants based on a competitive process.
Dr. Leonidas C. Platanias
Director – Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center