Research Funding

The National Cancer Institute estimates more than 17 million people in the U.S. were living with cancer of any site in 2021, and nearly 40% of men and women will be diagnosed with cancer during their lifetime.

A form of cancer immunotherapy called checkpoint blockade developed by HMS scientists is currently used for the treatment of at least 12 types of cancer. Hundreds of thousands of patients with cancer stand to benefit from these therapies each year, according to estimates.

• A first-in-class drug to treat a form of blood cancer known as multiple myeloma
• Research Pinpoints Weakness in Lung Cancer’s Defenses
• Study Finds Three New Safe, Effective Regimens to Treat Drug-Resistant Tuberculosis
• Why Do Fatal Brain Tumors Recur in the Brain?
• Optimizing current cancer immunotherapy to design new treatments that boost the efficacy of cancer immunotherapy among patients who don’t respond well.
• How certain cancers subvert the immune system and help tumors grow

Devices that regulate heart rhythm and shock the heart out of lethal arrythmias to prevent sudden cardiac death—which the CDC estimates affects 356,000 people in the U.S. each year, while some 200,000 heart-rhythm regulating pacemakers are implanted each year in the U.S.

• Scientists trace the molecular roots of a potentially fatal heart condition
• Paul Zoll MD: The Pioneer Whose Discoveries Prevent Sudden Death

The NIH Genetic and Rare Diseases Information Center estimates 5,000 people in the U.S. have Huntington disease, and the Association for Frontotemporal Degeneration estimates 60,000 cases of FTD in the U.S.

• New Understanding of Genetic Mutations Behind Huntington’s Disease
• HMS scientists developing novel therapy for specific form of frontotemporal dementia

The CDC estimates that one in 10 Americans, or between 34 and 36 million people, have type 2 diabetes; obesity is estimated to affect about one billion people globally. A Harvard Medical School researcher discovered glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1), a molecule that has become the basis for the therapies that have revolutionized obesity treatment. Additional discoveries enabled the design of disease-altering therapies for type 2 diabetes.

• New GLP-1-based medicines for diabetes, obesity, and more

The CDC estimates there were 10.2 million visits to physician offices in 2019 and 3.8 million emergency department visits in 2021 for infectious and parasitic diseases.

• Scientists Uncover Structure of Critical Component in Deadly Nipah Virus
• Study Reveals Detailed Structure of Critical Receptor
• Cellular receptors identified for eastern equine encephalitis

The Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network, part of the Health Resources & Services Administration, estimates 89,792 patients were on the waiting list for a kidney transplant in September 2024, and the CDC estimates more than 35.5 million people are living with chronic kidney disease in the U.S.

A team at Massachusetts General Hospital led by Harvard Medical School physician-scientists successfully transplanted a genetically edited pig kidney into a living person. The team performed the first surgery of its kind in the world, with the ultimate goal to alleviate critical organ shortages around the world.

Photo at right: 66-year-old New Hampshire resident Tim Andrews, is the fourth person in the world to receive a pig kidney and one of two people currently living with one.