J Craig Venter Institute Inc
Public records show a registered, tax-exempt organization in good standing.
Points to look into
- Only 45% of its spending went to programs.
These come from the organization's own tax return. There may be a good explanation; ask the charity.
What it says it does
J. CRAIG VENTER INSTITUTE (JCVI) IS AN INDEPENDENT 501(C)(3) NONPROFIT ORGANIZATION ADVANCING THE SCIENCE OF GENOMICS COMMITTED TO ACCELERATING FOUNDATIONAL SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH TO DRIVE ADVANCES IN HUMAN HEALTH AND ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY. THIS PAST YEAR JCVI COMMITTED RESEARCH EFFORTS IN HUMAN HEALTH, ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY, SYNTHETIC BIOLOGY, AND SOFTWARE TOOLS AND TECHNOLOGY.
- Income
- $14.4 million
- Spending
- $19.6 million
- Spent on programs
- 46%
- Reserves
- 14.5 months of spending
- Largest source of income
- government grants, 71%
- Employees
- 145
- Volunteers
- 7
- Highest pay
- $1.2 million, chairman & chief executive officer
Source: Form 990 for the year ending December 31, 2024, filed with the Internal Revenue Service. Rating method 2026.2. How we rate
Financial health
Fair: 61 out of 100. Higher than 30% of charities in its peer group (science, $10m to $100m).
Reserves
35 of 35Spendable reserves would cover 14.5 months of spending.
Debt
16 of 20It owes 21% of what it owns.
Living within its means
0 of 15Spending exceeded income by 36% of income.
Income trend
10 of 15Income fell 5% on the year before.
Spending floor
0 of 1545% of spending went to programs and raising each dollar of donations cost 3 cents.
Source: Form 990 for the year ending December 31, 2024, filed with the Internal Revenue Service. Rating method 2026.2. How we rate
Governance
Strong: 100 out of 100. Higher than 49% of charities in its peer group (science, $10m to $100m).
Independent board
25 of 255 of 7 voting board members are independent.
Conflict of interest policy
15 of 15Has a written conflict of interest policy.
Whistleblower policy
8 of 8Has a written whistleblower policy.
Record keeping policy
7 of 7Has a written policy on keeping and destroying records.
Board minutes
5 of 5Keeps minutes of board meetings.
Board sees the tax return
10 of 10Gave the board a copy of this return before filing it.
Pay set independently
5 of 5Sets its chief executive's pay through independent review and comparison.
Independent check of accounts
15 of 15Its accounts were audited by an independent accountant.
No reported misuse
10 of 10Reports no diversion of assets, excess benefits or loans to insiders.
Source: Form 990 for the year ending December 31, 2024, 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 (4)
- $5.3 million spent. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES: TWO MILLION PEOPLE IN THE U.S. ARE DIAGNOSED ANNUALLY WITH LIFE-THREATENING INFECTIONS CAUSED BY ANTIBIOTIC RESISTANT BACTERIA THAT ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR 35,000 DEATHS EACH YEAR WITH AN ECONOMIC IMPACT ESTIMATED TO BE AS MUCH AS $20 BILLION A YEAR IN DIRECT HEALTHCARE COSTS. DUE TO THE SPREAD OF ANTIBIOTIC RESISTANCE, VERY FEW DRUGS REMAIN THAT CAN TREAT THESE INFECTIONS. LED BY DERRICK FOUTS, PHD, (JCVI) AND FUNDED BY THE CENTERS FOR DISEASE CONTROL AND PREVENTION (CDC), THE J. CRAIG VENTER INSTITUTE AND CLEVELAND VA PREVENTION AND INTERVENTION EPICENTER ARE DEVELOPING NOVEL INTERVENTIONS THAT WILL PREVENT THE COLONIZATION AND SPREAD OF ANTIBIOTIC RESISTANT (AR) BACTERIA THAT CAUSE HOSPITAL ACQUIRED INFECTIONS (HAI), AND TO DEVELOP DIAGNOSTICS AND INTERVENTIONS TO COMBAT THE COLONIZATION BY THE RAPIDLY EMERGING FUNGAL PATHOGEN CANDIDA AURIS. COLLABORATORS ON THIS MULTI YEAR FUNDED CENTER INCLUDE RESEARCH LABS AT DUKE UNIVERSITY, CASE WESTERN UNIVERSITY AND NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY. LED BY INDRESH SINGH, DIRECTOR OF INFORMATICS, THE JCVI IS A KEY COLLOBORATOR FOR THE BACTERIAL AND VIRAL BIOINFORMATICS RESOURCE CENTER (BV-BRC). USING THE ADVANCED SYSTEM ARCHITECTURE BASED ON HIGH-PERFORMANCE COMPUTING, EXTENSIBLE DATABASE MANAGEMENT APPROACH STRUCTURED ON EMERGING METADATA STANDARDS, AND SUITE OF ANALYSIS AND VISUALIZATION TOOLS AND SERVICES AVAILABLE FOR CUSTOMIZED WORKFLOW ASSEMBLY JCVI SUPPORTS ONGOING DEVELOPMENT OF THE COMPREHENSIVE INTEGRATED BV-BRC THROUGH A TEAM OF VIROLOGY, IMMUNOLOGY, BIOINFORMATICS, AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY PROFESSIONALS WHO FOCUS ON THE DEVELOPMENT, ENHANCEMENT, AND TRAINING OF THE BV-BRC RESOURCE FOR THE NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ALLERGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES, THEIR SUPPORTED RESEARCHERS, AND THE BROADER INFECTIOUS DISEASE RESEARCH COMMUNITY. INFECTIONS CAUSED BY KLEBSIELLA PNEUMONIAE ARE INCREASINGLY PREVALENT AND DIFFICULT TO TREAT DUE TO INEFFECTIVE TREATMENT OPTIONS DUE TO INCREASED ANTIBIOTIC RESISTANCE. BACTERIOPHAGES, VIRUSES THAT INFECT AND KILL BACTERIA, ARE BEING USED TO EFFECTIVELY TREAT AND CURE INFECTIONS CAUSED BY A NUMBER OF BACTERIAL PATHOGENS. TO ADDRESS THE NEED FOR NEW TREATMENTS FOR WOUND AND PULMONARY INFECTIONS CAUSED BY K. PNEUMONIAE, DR. DERRICK FOUTS TEAM HAS DEVELOPED A 5-PHAGE LEAD CANDIDATE THERAPEUTIC COCKTAIL THAT IS CAPABLE OF INFECTING 53 OF OUR 100-STRAIN TEST PANEL. FUNDED BY THE NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ALLERGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES, THE JCVI, THE WALTER REED ARMY INSTITUTE OF RESEARCH (WRAIR) AND ADAPTIVE PHAGE THERAPEUTICS (APT) WILL OPTIMIZE THE LEAD THERAPEUTIC AND ITS PRODUCTION AS WELL AS CONDUCT THE REQUIRED PREINVESTIGATIONAL NEW DRUG (IND) TESTING AND BENCHMARKING NECESSARY FOR THE SUCCESSFUL SUBMISSION AND REVIEW OF AN IND APPLICATION FOR A PHASE 1 CLINICAL TRIAL. RESEARCH WILL LEVERAGE JCVI'S HISTORY OF SYNTHETIC AND PHAGE GENOMICS, WRAIR'S EXPERIENCE DEVELOPING PHAGE THERAPEUTICS, DEVELOPMENT OF MOUSE MODELS, AND APTS CGMP PRODUCTION CAPABILITIES AND EXPERIENCE WITH PHAGE CLINICAL TRIALS.
- $1.1 million spent. NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION CONTINUES TO FUND THE J. CRAIG VENTER INSTITUTE (JCVI) IN THE AREAS OF SYNTHETIC BIOLOGY, INTEGRATIVE ORGANISMAL SYSTEMS CORE PROGRAMS. FUNDED BY THE OFFICE OF INTERNATIONAL SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING, DR. TAE SEOK MOON, JCVI PROFESSOR LEADS AN INTERNATIONAL CONSORTIUM THROUGH A GLOBAL CENTER TO ADDRESS THE CHALLENGES OF RECALCITRANT WASTE STREAMS BY DEVELOPING INTEGRATED, NOVEL, AND SCALABLE PROCESSES FOR THEIR VALORIZATION, INTEGRATING RESEARCHERS ALL OVER THE WORLD AND FROM ACADEMIA AND INDUSTRY, AND PROVIDING GLOBAL EDUCATION, OUTREACH ACTIVITIES, AND WORKFORCE. GLOBAL CENTERS: CIRCLE: CENTER FOR INNOVATIVE RECYCLING AND CIRCULAR ECONOMY IS SUPORTED BY RESEARCH TEAMS IN THE UNITED STATES, CANADA, UNITED KINGDOM, KOREA, JAPAN, SINGAPORE & AUSTRALIA. THIS CENTER WILL DEVELOP THREE CORE TECHNOLOGIES, INCLUDING (1) MULTI-OMICS-BASED BIOPROSPECTING TO DISCOVER NEW ENZYMES, GENE REGULATORS, AND ORGANISMS FOR WASTE VALORIZATION, (2) PREDICTIVE COMPUTATIONAL APPROACHES TO ENABLE FORWARD ENGINEERING OF PROTEINS AND STRAINS FOR BIOMANUFACTURING, AND (3) TEA, LCA, AND RISK ASSESSMENT TO DEVELOP COMMERCIALLY VIABLE BIOPROCESSES FOR WASTE VALORIZATION. TO DEMONSTRATE THE UTILITY AND GENERALIZABILITY OF THE DEVELOPED CORE TECHNOLOGIES, WE WILL DEVELOP COMMERCIALLY VIABLE VALORIZATION PROCESSES FOR THREE WASTE STREAMS, INCLUDING MIXED PLASTICS, C1 GASES, AND BIOGENIC WASTES (E.G., FOOD, AGRICULTURAL, AND PAPER/CARDBOARD WASTES). IF SUCCESSFUL, THESE HIGH-RISK, HIGH-RETURN CENTER PROJECTS WILL PROVIDE NOVEL WASTE CONVERSION PROCESSES THAT CAN BE CONSIDERED FOR COMMERCIAL-SCALE, SUSTAINABLE BIOPRODUCTION. THIS IS MULTI-YEAR INTERNATIONAL STUDY. THE US CONSORTIUM HAS BEEN FUNDED UPTO $4.9M. NON-US COLLABORATORS HAVE BEEN FUNDED THROUGH RESEARCH AGENCIES WITHIN THEIR OWN COUNTRIES. UNDER THE DIVISION OF MOLECULAR AND CELLULAR BIOSCIENCE AND IN COLLABORATION WITH THE UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS MINIMAL BACTERIAL CELL COMPUTATIONAL MODELEING TEAM LED BY ZAIDA LUTHEY-SCHULTEN, JCVI RESEARCHERS LED BY DR. JOHN GLASS, ARE CARRYING OUT TRANSCRIPTOME AND METABLOMIC ANALYSES, BIOCHEMICAL AND GENETIC EXPERIEMENTS TO DISCOVER UNKNOWN GENE FUNCTIONS, OPTIMIZATION OF A MINIMAL CELL DEFINED GROWTH MEDIUM, AND CONSTRCUTION OF MINIMAL CELL MUTATNS TO FACILITATE THE WORK OF JCVI AND OTHER GROUP[S INVESTIGATING MINIMAL CELL BIOLOGY. THIS IS A MULTI-YEAR STUDY WITH COLLABORATIVE FUNDING OF $2.0M (~$0.7M JCVI).LED BY DR. JOHN GLASS, THE JCVI IS INVESTIGATING THE MECHANISM OF GENOME TRANSPLANTATION, DEVELOP GENOME TRANSPLANTATION FOR AT LEAST TWO SPECIES OF NON-MYCOPLASMA BACTERIA, AND USE MICROFLUIDICS TECHNOLOGY TO AUTOMATE AND IMPROVE THE EFFICIENCY OF GENOME TRANSPLANTATION. GENOME TRANSPLANTATION, THE INSERTION OF A COMPLETE BACTERIAL GENOME INTO A SUITABLE RECIPIENT CELL SO THAT THE DONATED GENOME COMMANDEERS THE RECIPIENT CELL TO PRODUCE A NEW CELL WITH THE GENOTYPE AND PHENOTYPE OF THE DONATED GENOME, WAS THE FUNDAMENTAL TECHNICAL DEVELOPMENT THAT ENABLED THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE FIRST BACTERIUM WITH A SYNTHETIC GENOME. AT THE ANNOUNCEMENT OF THE CREATION OF THE WORLD'S FIRST SYNTHETIC CELL, JCVI-SYN1.0, THE WORK WAS HERALDED AS A MAJOR ACCOMPLISHMENT FOR HUMANKIND. TO DATE, GENOME TRANSPLANTATION HAS ONLY BEEN ACHIEVED USING A SMALL SUBSET IF THE ATYPICAL BACTERIA CALLED MYCOPLASMAS. THIS IS A MULTI-YEAR STUDY WITH COLLABORATIVE FUNDING OF $1.0M.
- $2.1 million spent. JCVI SCIENTISTS HAVE PARTNERED WITH OTHER SCIENTISTS FROM LEADING ACADEMIC CENTERS TO COME TOGETHER TO ANSWER KEY QUESTIONS ABOUT THE ROOT CAUSE OF LONG COVID WHETHER FRAGMENTS OF THE CORONAVIRUS PERSIST IN THE TISSUES OF PATIENTS. THE LONG COVID RESEARCH INITITATIVE BANDS TOGETHER SCIENTSITS FROM HARVARD UNIBVERSITY, STANFORD UNIVERSITY, THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN FRANCISCO, YALE UNIVERSITY AND THE J. CRAIG VENTER INSTITUTE. THE INITITATIVE IS BACKED BY AN INITITIAL INVESTMENT FROM THE BALVI, A SCIENTIFC INVESTMENT FUND. JCVI FUNDING IS AWARDED THROUGH THE POLYBIO RESEARCH FOUNDATION. RESEARCHERS ARE USING ADVANCED IMAGING AND GENE-SEQUENCING TECHNIQUES LOOKING FOR EVIDENCE OF THE VIRUS IN TISSUES AND ANALYZING ITS AFFECT ON THE IMMUNE SYSTEM. OVER THE LAST FEW YEARS, ADVANCES IN STEM CELL RESEARCH AND SYNTHETIC BIOLOGY HAVE CATALYZED AN EXTRAORDINARY EXPANSION OF ORGANOID TECHNOLOGY THAT IS BRINGING CHANGES TO TRANSLATIONAL MEDICINE, PHARMACEUTICAL RESEARCH, AND STRATEGIES FOR TREATING VARIOUS HUMAN PATHOLOGIES. USING STEM CELLS, ORGANOIDS HAVE BEEN DEVELOPED FOR MULTIPLE ORGANS INCLUDING LIVER, INTESTINE, KIDNEY, BRAIN, STOMACH, SKIN, OVARY, AND LUNG. FUNDED BY THE LARRY L HILLBLOM FOUNDATION, DR. JOHN GLASS IS LEADING A CONSORTIUM OF RESEARCHERS THAT PROPOSE TO DEVELOP ORGANOIDS THAT CAN SERVE AS SURROGATES FOR BETA CELLS, WHICH ARE THE CELLS IN THE HUMAN PANCREAS THAT CONTROL BLOOD GLUCOSE LEVELS BY SYNTHESIZING INSULIN. OUR GOAL IS THAT THESE ORGANOIDS, WHEN IMPLANTED IN TYPE 1 DIABETICS, WILL RESULT IN A BETTER TREATMENT AND BETTER LIVES FOR THOSE PATIENTS.
- $451,688 spent. OTHER RELATED PROGRAMS FOR SUPPORT OF DEVELOPMENT OF KEY STAFF & INTERNSHIPS.
Source: Form 990 for the year ending December 31, 2024, filed with the Internal Revenue Service. Rating method 2026.2. How we rate
Legitimacy checks
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.
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.
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.
Is it keeping up with its IRS filings? Passed.
Most recent return on file covers the year ending December 2024.
Source: Exempt Organizations Business Master File, Internal Revenue Service, file dated October 13, 2026.
How long has it been tax-exempt? Passed.
Recognized by the IRS since June 1995.
Source: Exempt Organizations Business Master File, Internal Revenue Service, file dated October 13, 2026.
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.