The Cancer Research Institute (CRI) is a US non-profit organization funding cancer research and based in New York City. They were founded in 1953 to develop immunologically-based treatments for cancer, and despite their name are a funding body for research rather than a research institute themselves, working with other institutes and organizations. It was founded by Helen Coley Nauts and Oliver R. Grace with a $2,000 grant from Nelson Rockefeller. CRI was created in honor of Nauts' father, William Coley (1862–1936), an American orthopedic surgeon and a pioneer of cancer immunotherapy. Like Dr. Coley, the Institute focuses on immunological treatments for cancer, rather than traditional treatments, such as chemotherapy and surgery.
The organization offers research grants to students, postdoctoral fellows, and investigators at medical research institutions throughout the world. It also funds clinical trials testing promising immunotherapies in a variety of cancer types and convenes scientific conferences for tumor immunologists. In the fiscal year to June 2015, CRI reported income of $41.3 million and spending of $39 million: $29 million on research, $5 million on education, and $4 million on fundraising and administration.
