The G. Harold and Leila Y. Mathers Charitable Foundation was organized as a Texas non-profit corporation and obtained a ruling from the Internal Revenue Service granting it tax-exempt status as a section 501(c)(3) organization. The Foundation commenced its grant-making activities in Fall, 1982. Since its inception, The Mathers Foundation has granted in excess of $350M.
For many years the Foundation has enjoyed special recognition in the research community in supporting “basic” scientific research, realizing that true transformative breakthroughs usually occur after a thorough understanding of the fundamental mechanisms underlying natural phenomena. More recently, and with the advent of newer investigative methodologies, technology, and tools, the Foundation now embraces innovative translational research proposals.
Universities/Institutions are limited to three applications per cycle. It is our expectation that our trusted partners will conduct an internal search for LOIs that are consistent with our mission and guidelines.
Deadlines:
Spring 2025
Duke Internal Deadline: Feb. 14, 2025
Nominations and Portal Registration due date: February 28, 2025 (Friday, 8 PM EST (5 PM PST)
Due date for LOI applications: March 14, 2025 (Friday, 8 PM EST (5 PM PST)
Applicants are notified of proposal invitation or LOI rejection within 30 days of the due date.
Due date for invited formal proposals: May 23, 2025 (Friday, 8 PM EST (5 PM PST)
Applicants are notified of proposal approval or rejection within 75 days of the due date.
Fall cycle:
Duke Internal Deadline: September 6, 2024
Portal registration due date: September 20, 2024
LOI due: October 4, 2024
If invited, full proposal due: December 6, 2024
- The Foundation primarily supports basic science, ideally with potential translational applications.
- Examples of current research areas we support include immunology, microbiome, structural biology, cellular physiology, cancer biology, genetics, genomics, microbiology and infectious diseases, stem cell biology, and neuroscience.
- The Foundation does not support research conducted in human subjects and will not fund requests for clinical trials or drug discovery. The Foundation will not support research projects which we consider pre-clinical drug development.
- One application per cycle per investigator.
- Universities/Institutions are limited to four applications per cycle. It is our expectation that our trusted partners will conduct an internal search for LOIs that are consistent with our mission and guidelines.
2024 Brent A. Hanks, Associate Professor of Medicine, Assistant Professor of Pharmacology and Cancer Biology, Member of the Duke Cancer Institute
2023 Saskia Hemmers, PhD, Integrative Immunology
2020 Michael Boyce, PhD, Biochemistry
2019 Hashim Al-Hashimi, PhD, Biochemistry
Owing to the sponsor's restriction on the number of applications that may be submitted from Duke, anyone wishing to pursue nomination should submit the following materials as one PDF.
The LOI requires submission of a
• short summary of the proposed research project,
• a preliminary set of aims,
• discussion of previous or related work, and
• a budget estimate.
LOI should be accompanied by the Principal Investigator’s C.V. and history of previously published research studies
Please submit internal materials through My Research Proposal. (Code: ILN) https://www.grantinterface.com/sl/7B1KLk
Instructions for creating an account (if needed) and submitting your materials: https://ctsi.duke.edu/about-myresearchproposal