Glioblastoma (GBM) is the most aggressive and common primary malignant brain tumor in adults, and for decades, it has remained fundamentally incurable. With a median survival of less than 18 months and long-term survival rates below 10%, a therapeutic breakthrough is desperately needed.
In recognition of this critical challenge, The Mark Foundation for Cancer Research and The Sontag Foundation are leading a coalition of philanthropies and brain cancer leaders to fund research aimed at overcoming the obstacles to effective diagnosis and treatment. By enabling bold, cross-disciplinary science, the coalition aims to transform the future of glioblastoma care and offer new hope to patients and families.
To overcome the many obstacles to progress in developing effective glioblastoma therapies, The Mark Foundation and Sontag Foundation co-hosted a landmark scientific workshop in Chicago in November 2024. Titled No Stone Unturned: Relentless Pursuit of a Cure for Glioblastoma, the workshop was organized by William Kaelin Jr., MD (Dana-Farber Cancer Institute), Sheila Singh, MD, PhD (King’s College London), and Timothy Cloughesy, MD (UCLA), who brought together global leaders in neuro-oncology and translational science.
Workshop participants discussed new approaches to identification, validation, and drug discovery for new targets, sparking new collaborations and laying the groundwork for our funding strategy. Learn more about the workshop.
In 2026, partner organizations Fondation Anne et Claude Berda, the National Brain Tumor Society, the Southeastern Brain Tumor Foundation, and the Uncle Kory Foundation joined the coalition.
In February 2026, the coalition announced that the following five researchers and teams have been awarded grant funding to pursue research aimed at changing the current glioblastoma treatment paradigm.
These grants were made possible in part by generous support from the families of Amiram Elwork and Rachael Elwork Wells, in whose memory this work is dedicated, honoring the lives of a father and daughter both lost to glioblastoma.
Aneuploidies as a Source of Therapeutic Targets in Glioblastoma
Rameen Beroukhim, MD, PhD, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute
William Kaelin Jr., MD; and Keith Ligon, MD, PhD, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard
Daniel Schramek, PhD, Lunenfeld-Tanenbaum Research Institute
Jason Moffat, PhD, The Hospital for Sick Children
Antisense Oligonucleotides (ASOs) Targeting the Long Noncoding RNA as Novel Immunotherapeutic Agents in Glioblastoma
E. Antonio Chiocca, MD, PhD and Marco Mineo, PhD, Brigham and Women’s Hospital
Targeting Platelet-Immune Cell Interactions for Next-Generation Glioblastoma Therapies
Justin Lathia, PhD, Cleveland Clinic
Identifying Drivers and Therapeutic Targets in IDH-Mutant and IDH-Wildtype Glioma
Daniel Schramek, PhD, Lunenfeld-Tanenbaum Research Institute, and Daniel Wahl, MD, PhD, University of Michigan
Spatial Profiling of CAR T Cell Interactions and Activation States in the Tumor Microenvironment of High-Grade Gliomas
Peter Sorger, PhD, Harvard Medical School, and Christine Brown, PhD, City of Hope
