MISSION
The Pershing Square Foundation supports exceptional leaders and innovative organizations that tackle important social, health, and environmental issues and deliver scalable and sustainable impact.
ABOUT US
The Pershing Square Foundation (PSF) is a family foundation established in 2006 to support exceptional leaders and innovative organizations that tackle important social issues and deliver scalable and sustainable global impact. Pershing Square Philanthropies, which includes The Pershing Square Foundation, has committed more than $930 million in grants and social investments in target areas including health and medicine, education, economic development and social innovation. Bill Ackman and Neri Oxman are co-trustees of the Foundation. For more information, visit: http://pershingsquarephilanthropies.org.
By investing in pioneering individuals, non-profits and mission driven companies who dare to re-imagine the possible, PSF has helped to bring about important breakthroughs — from cancer research and small scale agriculture to criminal justice reform and educational opportunities for young people in communities — around the world.
PROGRAMS
The Pershing Square Sohn Cancer Research Alliance was formed in 2013 by PSF, which has since committed more than $49 million to 77 scientists, in partnership with The Sohn Conference Foundation. The Alliance is dedicated to playing a catalytic role in accelerating cures for cancer by supporting innovative cancer research and by facilitating collaborations between academia and industry. Annually, the Alliance awards the Pershing Square Sohn Cancer Prize ($750,000 over three years) to early-career scientists who are engaged in cutting-edge cancer research. Scientists must be based as academic research institutions in the USA. For more information, visit our website here.
2026 Pershing Square Sohn Prize Application Guidelines
The application portal for the 2026 Pershing Square Sohn Cancer Prize has closed. The deadline to submit a Letter of Intent was Monday, November 3, 2025 by 5:00pm ET. Applicants were notified regarding the status of their application by mid-February.
If you have any questions regarding the Pershing Square Sohn Cancer Prize, please contact us at info@psscra.org.
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The MIND (Maximizing Innovation in Neuroscience Discovery) Prize ($750,000 over three years) supports and empowers early-to-mid-career investigators to rethink conventional paradigms around neurodegenerative diseases (NDDs). Modeled after the Pershing Square Sohn Cancer Prize, the MIND Prize catalyzes interdisciplinary approaches and facilitate collaborations across academic departments and institutions. It fuels the groundbreaking research that will accelerate our understanding of NDDs at every level.
Projects may range from the invention of novel tools, techniques, and technologies for mapping and analyzing the brain to bold approaches that demonstrate extraordinary therapeutic potential. Research domains may include—but are not limited to—neurobiology, brain imaging and mapping, machine learning, drug delivery, and synthetic biology. Researchers must be based as academic research institutions in the USA. For more information, visit our website here.
2026 MIND Prize Application Guidelines
The application portal for the 2026 Maximizing Innovation in Neuroscience Discovery (MIND) has closed. The deadline to submit a Letter of Intent was Monday, September 29, 2025 by 5:00pm ET. Applications were notified regarding the status of their application by late December.
If you have any questions regarding the MIND Prize, please contact us at info@MINDPrize.org.
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Through the Lotus Award ($750,000 over three years) for Ovarian Cancer Research, PSF is looking for investigators in the Pershing Square Sohn Cancer Research Alliance community who are either already working on a promising project in ovarian cancer or in another type of cancer that could have an impact on ovarian cancer.
Researchers who are not studying ovarian cancer are encouraged to apply and required to find a collaborator with experience in ovarian cancer research. The aim of this award is to (1) provide investigators with unique expertise to apply their knowledge to ovarian cancer and/or (2) empower ovarian cancer researchers to pursue their boldest ideas. Facing a disease where too few have survived to-date, PSF ultimately aims to create a culture around ovarian cancer that offers women hope, akin to the breast cancer community. PSF is passionate about changing outcomes for tens of thousands of women a year and is hopeful that future scientific discoveries will allow for more survivors who can share their stories for years to come.
2026 Lotus Award Application Guidelines
The application portal for the 2026 Lotus Award for Ovarian Cancer Research has closed. The deadline to submit a Letter of Intent was Monday, February 2nd by 5:00pm ET. Applications will be notified regarding the status of their application by mid-May.