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Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute

EIN 51-0197108 · La Jolla, CA

Public records show a registered, tax-exempt organization in good standing.

LegitimacyPassesRegistration and standingFinancial healthGood84 out of 100GovernanceStrong90 out of 100Impact evidenceDescribes programsHow well its results are evidenced

Points to look into

  • It reported loans to or from officers, directors or other insiders.

These come from the organization's own tax return. There may be a good explanation; ask the charity.

What it says it does

SANFORD BURNHAM PREBYS MEDICAL DISCOVERY INSTITUTE'S MISSION IS TO ADVANCE THE BIOMEDICAL SCIENCES BY CULTIVATING THE NEXT GENERATION OF SCIENTIFIC LEADERS, PROVIDING MEANINGFUL OPPORTUNITIES FOR RESEARCHERS OF ALL BACKGROUNDS TO LEARN, INNOVATE, AND MAKE BREAKTHROUGH DISCOVERIES THAT IMPROVE HUMAN HEALTH.

Income
$114.4 million
Spending
$116.1 million
Spent on programs
82%
Reserves
17.3 months of spending
Largest source of income
government grants, 61%
Employees
611
Volunteers
14
Highest pay
$1.3 million, ceo & president

Source: Form 990 for the year ending June 30, 2025, filed with the Internal Revenue Service. Rating method 2026.2. How we rate

Financial health

Good: 84 out of 100. Higher than 70% of charities in its peer group (medical research, over $100m).

  • Reserves

    35 of 35

    Spendable reserves would cover 17.3 months of spending.

  • Debt

    16 of 20

    It owes 16% of what it owns.

  • Living within its means

    8 of 15

    Spending exceeded income by 1% of income.

  • Income trend

    10 of 15

    Income fell 7% on the year before.

  • Spending floor

    15 of 15

    82% of spending went to programs and raising each dollar of donations cost 2 cents.

Source: Form 990 for the year ending June 30, 2025, filed with the Internal Revenue Service. Rating method 2026.2. How we rate

Governance

Strong: 90 out of 100. Higher than 19% of charities in its peer group (medical research, over $100m).

  • Independent board

    25 of 25

    13 of 15 voting board members are independent.

  • Conflict of interest policy

    15 of 15

    Has a written conflict of interest policy.

  • Whistleblower policy

    8 of 8

    Has a written whistleblower policy.

  • Record keeping policy

    7 of 7

    Has a written policy on keeping and destroying records.

  • Board minutes

    5 of 5

    Keeps minutes of board meetings.

  • Board sees the tax return

    10 of 10

    Gave the board a copy of this return before filing it.

  • Pay set independently

    5 of 5

    Sets its chief executive's pay through independent review and comparison.

  • Independent check of accounts

    15 of 15

    Its accounts were audited by an independent accountant.

  • No reported misuse

    0 of 10

    Reports at least one of: diversion of assets, excess benefits, loans to insiders.

Source: Form 990 for the year ending June 30, 2025, filed with the Internal Revenue Service. Rating method 2026.2. How we rate

Impact evidence

Describes programs. Its tax return describes what it does but we have found no measurable results in it.

Programs described in its return (1)
  1. $95.6 million spent. SANFORD BURNHAM PREBYS MEDICAL DISCOVERY INSTITUTE STUDIES THE TOUGHEST DISEASES. WE ARE FORWARD-LOOKING, COLLABORATIVE, FLEXIBLE AND MULTIDISCIPLINARY. WE EMBRACE DATA SCIENCE AND PROMOTE ENTREPRENEURSHIP. WE ARE CENTRAL TO A VIBRANT BIOMEDICAL COMMUNITY: LOCAL, NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL. WE ARE A LEADER WHOSE ACHIEVEMENTS ARE INSPIRING AND MEASURABLE.SEE SCHEDULE O FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION. PUBLISHED RESEARCH JULY 1, 2024-JUNE 30, 2025 CANCER RACHAEL N. MCVICAR, PHD; RABI MURAD, PHD; ELIZABETH M. KWONG, PHD; ASUKA ALVARADO; BETHANY A. GRIMMIG, PHD; RUSLAN NURYYEV: BRIAN JAMES, PHD; CHESKA M. GALAPATE; KOEN M.O. GALENKAMP, PHD; COSIMO COMMISSO, PHD; AND EVAN Y. SNYDER, MD, PHD. "A THERAPY FOR SUPPRESSING CANONICAL AND NONCANONICAL SARS-COV-2 VIRAL ENTRY AND AN INTRINSIC INTRAPULMONARY INFLAMMATORY RESPONSE." PNAS. JULY 19, 2024 PETER D. ADAMS, PHD; NIRMALYA DASGUPTA, PHD; XUE LEI, PHD; CHRISTINA HUAN SHI, PHD; ROUVEN ARNOLD, PHD; MARCOS G. TENECHE; KARL N. MILLER, PHD; ADARSH RAJESH; ANDREW DAVIS; VALESCA ANSCHAU, PHD; ALEXANDRE R. CAMPOS; AARON HAVAS, PHD; SHANSHAN YIN, PHD; ZONG MING CHUA; TIANHUI LIU; JESSICA PROULX, PHD; MICHAEL ALCARAZ; AND KEVIN Y. YIP, PHD; AND OTHERS. "HISTONE CHAPERONE HIRA, PROMYELOCYTIC LEUKEMIA (PML) PROTEIN AND P62/SQSTM1 COORDINATE TO REGULATE INFLAMMATION DURING CELL SENESCENCE." MOLECULAR CELL. AUGUST 22, 2024 HANXIAO ZHANG; CHENYU ZHOU; ZARITH MOHAMMAD; JIANHUA ZHAO, PHD. "STRUCTURAL BASIS OF HUMAN 20S PROTEASOME BIOGENESIS." NATURE COMMUNICATIONS. SEPTEMBER 18, 2024 KEVIN THARP, PHD. "HAVE PLASTIC CULTURE MODELS PREVENTED THE DISCOVERY OF EFFECTIVE CANCER THERAPEUTICS?" BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHARMACOLOGY. NOVEMBER 3, 2024 CARL WARE, PHD, AND COLLEAGUES. "TARGETING THE TNF AND TNFR SUPERFAMILIES IN AUTOIMMUNE DISEASE AND CANCER." NATURE REVIEWS DRUG DISCOVERY. OCTOBER 24, 2024 ELENA B. PASQUALE, PHD, WITH COLLEAGUES ELSEWHERE. "FREQUENT EPHA2 RECEPTOR MUTATIONS IN CHOLANGIOCARCINOMA DISRUPT RECEPTOR FORWARD SIGNALING SUPPORTING A TUMOR SUPPRESSOR ROLE." BIOCHEMICA ET BIOPHYSICA ACTA. FEBRUARY 28, 2025 COSIMO COMMISSO, PHD, GUILLEM LAMBIES BARJAU, PHD, AND COLLEAGUES. "CELL POLARITY PROTEINS PROMOTE MACROPINOCYTOSIS IN RESPONSE TO METABOLIC STRESS." NATURE COMMUNICATIONS. DECEMBER 3, 2024 SANJU SINHA, PHD, AND COLLEAGUES. "CHARTING THE TRANSCRIPTOMIC LANDSCAPE OF PRIMARY AND METASTATIC CANCERS IN RELATION TO THEIR ORIGIN AND TARGET NORMAL TISSUES." SCIENCE ADVANCES. DECEMBER 6, 2024 ANINDYA BAGCHI, PHD, WITH COLLEAGUES ELSEWHERE. "A FORWARD GENETIC SCREEN IDENTIFIES POTASSIUM CHANNEL ESSENTIALITY IN SHH MEDULLOBLASTOMA MAINTENANCE." DEVELOPMENTAL CELL. JANUARY 2025 DEBANJAN DHAR, PHD; SOURADIPTA GANGULY, PHD; MARCOS G. TENECHE, PHD; PETER D. ADAMS, PHD, WITH COLLEAGUES ELSEWHERE. "FBP1 CONTROLS LIVER CANCER EVOLUTION FROM SENESCENT MASH HEPATOCYTES." NATURE. JANUARY 1, 2025 REMA IYER, PHD; ANIRUDDHA J. DESHPANDE, PHD, WITH COLLEAGUES ELSEWHERE. "DE NOVO DESIGN OF PEPTIDE BINDERS TO CONFORMATIONALLY DIVERSE TARGETS WITH CONTRASTIVE LANGUAGE MODELING." SCIENCE ADVANCES. JANUARY 22, 2025 ROBERT ARDECKY, PHD, AND STEVEN H. OLSON, PHD, WITH COLLEAGUES ELSEWHERE. "STRUCTURE-ACTIVITY RELATIONSHIPS OF THIADIAZOLE AGONISTS OF THE HUMAN SECRETIN RECEPTOR." SLAS DISCOVERY. AUGUST 7, 2024 EDUARD SERGIENKO, PHD, MERVE DEMIR, PHD, LAURA KOEPPING, LYNN FUJIMOTO, ANDREY A. BOBKOV, PHD, AND JIANHUA ZHAO, PHD, WITH COLLEAGUES ELSEWHERE. "STRUCTURAL BASIS FOR SUBSTRATE BINDING, CATALYSIS AND INHIBITION OF CANCER TARGET MITOCHONDRIAL CREATINE KINASE BY A COVALENT INHIBITOR." STRUCTURE. JANUARY 27, 2025 LUTZ TAUTZ, PHD, JIANQIAN WU, MAREK R. BARANOWSKI, ALEXANDER E. ALESHIN, LESTER J. LAMBERT, PHD, LAURENT J.S. DEBACKER, YE NA HAN, RANAJIT DAS, PHD, DOUGLAS J. SHEFFLER, PHD, ANDREY A. BOBKOV, PHD, AND NICHOLAS COSFORD, PHD, WITH COLLEAGUES ELSEWHERE. "FRAGMENT SCREENING IDENTIFIES NOVEL ALLOSTERIC BINDERS AND BINDING SITES IN THE VHR (DUSP3) PHOSPHATASE." ACS OMEGA. JANUARY 31, 2025 PETER D. ADAMS, PHD, AND COLLEAGUES. "P53 ENHANCES DNA REPAIR AND SUPPRESSES CYTOPLASMIC CHROMATIN FRAGMENTS AND INFLAMMATION IN SENESCENT CELLS." NATURE COMMUNICATIONS. MARCH 5, 2025 SANJU SINHA, PHD, WITH COLLEAGUES ELSEWHERE. "PRODE RECOVERS ESSENTIAL AND CONTEXT-ESSENTIAL GENES THROUGH NEIGHBORHOOD-INFORMED SCORES." GENOME BIOLOGY. FEBRUARY 2025 XUEQIN SUN, PHD, AND LAURENCE HADDADIN. "STEM CELLS IN CANCER: FROM MECHANISMS TO THERAPEUTIC STRATEGIES." REVIEW. CELLS. APRIL 3, 2025 BROOKE EMERLING, PHD, ALICIA LLORENTE, PHD, GURPREET K. ARORA, PHD, AND RABI MURAD, PHD. "PHOSPHOINOSITIDE KINASES IN CANCER: FROM MOLECULAR MECHANISMS TO THERAPEUTIC OPPORTUNITIES." NATURE REVIEWS CANCER. APRIL 3, 2025 KELLY KERSTEN, PHD, WITH COLLEAGUES ELSEWHERE. "TUMOR CELL HETEROGENEITY DRIVES SPATIAL ORGANIZATION OF THE INTRATUMORAL IMMUNE RESPONSE." JOURNAL OF EXPERIMENTAL MEDICINE. APRIL 1, 2025 LUCAS CHAVEZ, PHD, WITH COLLEAGUES ELSEWHERE. "CHROMATIN MODIFICATION ABNORMALITIES BY CHD7 AND KMT2C LOSS PROMOTE MEDULLOBLASTOMA PROGRESSION." CELL REPORTS. MAY 27, 2025 ROBERT J. WECHSLER-REYA, PHD, WITH COLLEAGUES ELSEWHERE. "ISOCITRATE DEHYDROGENASE 1 PRIMES GROUP-3 MEDULLOBLASTOMAS FOR CUPROPTOSIS." CANCER CELL. MAY 12, 2025 KEVIN YIP, PHD, WITH COLLEAGUES ELSEWHERE. "AUTOPHAGY IS AN UPSTREAM MEDIATOR OF CHROMATIN DYNAMICS IN NORMAL AND AUTOIMMUNE GERMINAL CENTRE B CELLS." JOURNAL OF CLINICAL INVESTIGATION. MAY 15, 2025 ANDREI L. OSTERMAN, PHD, WITH COLLEAGUES ELSEWHERE. "THE CELL-PERMEABLE IRON CHELATOR M606 INHIBITS MYCN-DRIVEN NEUROBLASTOMA VIA AN E2F3-MEDIATED RESPONSE." PNAS. JUNE 10, 2025 YU XIN (WILL) WANG, PHD, WITH COLLEAGUES ELSEWHERE. "MULTIOMIC PROFILING REVEALS THAT PROSTAGLANDIN E2 REVERSES AGED MUSCLE STEM CELL DYSFUNCTION, LEADING TO INCREASED REGENERATION AND STRENGTH." CELL STEM CELL. JUNE 10, 2025 CARDIOVASCULAR AND MUSCULAR DISEASES KAREN OCORR, PHD; CHRISTIANI DONDI, PHD; GEORG VOGLER, PHD; ANJALI GUPTA, PHD; STANLEY M. WALLS, ANAIS KERVADEC, PHD; MICHAELA R. ROMERO; SODA B. DIOP, PHD; ALEXAN

Source: Form 990 for the year ending June 30, 2025, filed with the Internal Revenue Service. Rating method 2026.2. How we rate

Legitimacy checks

  1. Is it registered with the IRS? Passed.

    Listed in the IRS master file of tax-exempt organizations as a 501(c)(3) charitable organization.

    Source: Exempt Organizations Business Master File, Internal Revenue Service, file dated October 13, 2026.

  2. Has the IRS revoked its tax-exempt status? Passed.

    Not on the IRS automatic revocation list.

    Source: Automatic revocation of exemption list, Internal Revenue Service, file dated October 13, 2026.

  3. Are donations tax-deductible? Passed.

    On the IRS list of organizations eligible to receive tax-deductible contributions.

    Source: Publication 78 data: organizations eligible for tax-deductible contributions, Internal Revenue Service, file dated October 13, 2026.

  4. Is it keeping up with its IRS filings? Passed.

    Most recent return on file covers the year ending June 2025.

    Source: Exempt Organizations Business Master File, Internal Revenue Service, file dated October 13, 2026.

  5. How long has it been tax-exempt? Passed.

    Recognized by the IRS since August 1982.

    Source: Exempt Organizations Business Master File, Internal Revenue Service, file dated October 13, 2026.

  6. Is it in good standing with state regulators? Passed.

    Not on California's list of charities barred from soliciting. Other states are not yet checked.

    Source: May Not Operate or Solicit for Charitable Purposes list, California Attorney General, Registry of Charities and Fundraisers, file dated October 21, 2026.

Ratings and checks are our reading of public records, using the published method. They are not a statement about anyone's honesty. If you work for this organization, you can send corrections or results, confirm you want gifts through Veridonate, or ask to be removed from giving.