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    (OA-69) The Role of Philanthropy in Accelerating the Understanding and Treatment of Multiple Myeloma

    Friday, September 19, 2025
    15:17 - 15:29 East Coast USA Time
    Location: Hall FG

    Introduction:  Grants, primarily from government agencies, have long provided the resources for scientific research to advance knowledge and understanding of diseases. Multiple myeloma is no exception. However, philanthropy can also play an important role in accelerating the understanding of a disease and its potential treatments.  The Paula and Rodger Riney Foundation (Foundation) was created to advance the understanding of multiple myeloma (MM) and to support research that might lead to a cure.

    Methods:   The Foundation began their efforts in late 2019 by soliciting research projects from leading investigators in the field of MM research. As of May 2025, the Foundation has supported research programs in 21 institutions (over 170 unique research projects) totaling over $214M in grants. To measure the success of the Foundation's effort, an accounting of the following output measures were collected; number of manuscripts or presentations, manuscripts under review or in preparation, additional grants or applications derived from the research, patents and applications, spin offs or new companies formed, doctoral thesis/trainees and clinical/therapeutic/diagnostic drug candidates. Data collection was limited to those institutions with at least one year of financial support (16 of the 21 institutions). In addition, the Foundation has provided the IMS with resources ( >$16M) to manage Translational and Career Development Awards (T&CDA).

    Results:   At the time of this abstract 12 of the 16 institutions had provided the requested information. Each recipient of the T&CDA from 2021 to 2024 were contacted and asked the same questions (2025 recipients were not contacted as they recently received their awards).  At the time of this abstract 22 of the 75 had responded.  Table 1 lists the totals for each of the criteria used to assess the impact of the support provided by the Foundation. In addition, these investigations have led to the identification of 10 new MM targets and 8 new drugs/delivery approaches.

    Table 1


































     Manuscripts or
    Presentations*    		Manuscripts under review/preparationsGrants/
    applications    		Patents/
    applications    		Spin outs/new company formationDoctoral thesis/
    trainee    		Clinical/
    therapeutic/
    diagnostic candidates 
    Institutions
    n=12 of 16    		22517744062210**
    IMS Awards
    n=22 of 75    		106*8241 1


    *Includes many high impact journals like Cancer Cell, Nature Medicine, Nature Cancer, Journal of Clinical Oncology and an few book chapters
    **Hem/onc and MM related therapies

    Conclusions:   It is difficult to determine the direct impact of philanthropy on advancing scientific understanding of a disease.  However, the wide range of support to many institutions by the Foundation has led to numerous publications, grants, patents, and new therapies all of which could be an indication of the importance of philanthropy in advancing the understanding and treatment of multiple myeloma.