NEW YORK — The Pershing Square Foundation has launched the 2026 Lotus Award, a competitive research funding program aimed at accelerating breakthroughs in ovarian cancer, one of the deadliest and most underfunded cancers affecting women. Formerly known as the Ovarian Cancer Challenge Grant, the program will provide each recipient with $250,000 per year for three years, totaling $750,000, to support high-risk, high-reward scientific research with the potential for transformative impact.
Applications for the 2026 Lotus Award are now open and will be accepted through February 2 at 5:00 p.m. Eastern time, the Foundation said.
The initiative builds on more than a decade of the Foundation’s support for cancer research in New York City through the Pershing Square Sohn Cancer Research Alliance. The Lotus Award was launched in 2025 as part of the Foundation’s broader investment in women’s health and its effort to raise awareness of ovarian cancer, a disease that is often diagnosed late and has limited treatment options.
Despite being the deadliest gynecologic cancer, ovarian cancer has historically received comparatively little attention and funding. Nearly four out of five women are diagnosed at an advanced stage, and the five-year survival rate for those patients is about 27%. The Foundation said the new award is designed to address this gap by investing in innovative, interdisciplinary research and by drawing new scientific perspectives into the field.
“As we open the second year and officially launch the Lotus Award, we are calling on the most creative and driven researchers across the country to bring their ideas to one of the most urgent and overlooked challenges in women’s health,” said Olivia Tournay Flatto, PhD, president of The Pershing Square Foundation and co-founder and executive director of the Pershing Square Sohn Cancer Research Alliance. “By reaching beyond the traditional ovarian cancer community, we hope to spark bold new collaborations and bring fresh perspectives to a field that is long overdue for transformative progress.”
The Lotus Award uses a nomination-based application process. Lead principal investigators must be nominated by a member of the Pershing Square Sohn Prize Advisory Board, the Scientific Review Council, or a Cancer Prize winner. Eligible applicants must hold a PhD, MD, or MD-PhD degree or equivalent, have a tenure-track or equivalent faculty appointment at a nonprofit academic research institution in the United States, and have at least two years of experience running an independent laboratory.
Researchers who do not currently focus on ovarian cancer are encouraged to apply in collaboration with investigators who have experience in the field. The Foundation said the goal is both to attract researchers with unique expertise to ovarian cancer and to empower established ovarian cancer scientists to pursue their most ambitious ideas.
“The fight against ovarian cancer demands a response as urgent and innovative as the disease is aggressive,” said Mary Lynne Hedley, PhD, a senior scientific fellow at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard and a member of the Lotus Scientific Review Board. “Lotus is leading that effort by rewarding bold ideas, elevating emerging investigators, and driving research that has the potential for meaningful patient impact.”
Michel Sadelain, MD, PhD, a member of the Lotus Scientific Review Board, said the program offers more than financial support. “The Lotus Award established by the Pershing Square Foundation not only offers generous support for innovative ovarian cancer research but provides awardees with critical scientific feedback and invaluable contacts across science, biotechnology, and entrepreneurship,” he said.
The Lotus Award is guided by a scientific advisory board composed of leading researchers and physician-scientists from major academic and medical institutions in the United States and Europe. (Source: IANS)
