Susan G. Komen Grants 2026: Research, Community, Patients

Susan G. Komen grants open now: 3 audiences, 3 answers

Grantsights checked 6 outside sources and 2 Komen returns on November 10, 2026, because Komen's own pages weren't readable by automated tools that day.

The honest read: for a researcher, Komen is a real but closed-for-now funder with institutional limits. For a community nonprofit, there's no Komen program to apply to. For a patient, help exists but is small and one-time.

Komen research grants: who's eligible and how much

According to Boston University's research office summary published May 1, 2026, Komen offered 2 early-career mechanisms in its 2026 cycle, and BU noted at the time that Komen hadn't yet announced the cycle and details could change.

Career Catalyst Research (CCR):

• Up to $150,000 a year for up to 3 years ($450,000 total), direct and indirect costs combined.
• For early-career faculty with a full-time faculty appointment, or a formal offer letter, by the application due date.
• No more than 6 years of total faculty appointment, and never a PI on an NIH R01 or equivalent as of award notification.
• Includes protected time and a mentor committee.

Career Transition Award (CTA):

• Up to $650,000 over up to 5 years: Phase 1 pays up to $100,000 a year in direct costs for up to 2 years; Phase 2 pays up to $150,000 a year, direct and indirect, for up to 3 years.
• For postdoctoral and clinical fellows in the final years of mentored training, with no more than 5 years of total postdoctoral experience at the letter of intent.

BU listed Komen's anticipated 2026 dates as a CTA letter of intent on July 24, 2026, a CCR application on October 2, 2026, and award notice around April 15, 2027. It said BU could nominate 1 applicant per award type, and so could Boston Medical Center. The research has to be "hypothesis-driven, breast cancer-focused," with emphasis on metastatic and aggressive disease, personalized care and eliminating disparities.

Common mistake: applying straight to Komen. Because each institution can nominate a limited number of applicants, the real first deadline is your institution's internal one. BU's internal deadline for the 2026 cycle was June 1, 2026, months before Komen's own dates.

The latest research grant round

According to a Dallas Innovates report dated June 24, 2026, Komen awarded $15.4 million to 35 researchers at 24 institutions in its latest round: 6 Career Catalyst Research grants, 3 Career Transition Awards, 3 Opportunity Grants, 21 Leadership Grants and 3 Scientific Strategy and Programs grants. Named Career Catalyst recipients included researchers at New York Medical College, the University of Pennsylvania, Mount Sinai, UT Southwestern, UC San Francisco and MD Anderson. The article says Komen has invested more than $1.1 billion in research since 1982.

The 21 Leadership Grants went to senior scientists at centers such as Dana-Farber, Vanderbilt, Stanford and Weill Cornell, and the article doesn't describe an open call for them, so plan on the early-career routes.

What happened to Komen community grants

Komen used to fund local breast health programs through local affiliates. According to the San Antonio Report on October 5, 2020, the national organization announced in April 2020 that it would "centralize its operations and consolidate its local affiliates, focusing more squarely on research and direct patient support." In San Antonio, the local affiliate chose to wind down and give out its last grants; recipients of past local grants included University Health System, ThriveWell Cancer Foundation and the YWCA San Antonio.

Komen's latest Form 990 shows what's left. Of 61 Schedule I grants, only 3 were for patient care:

That's 1.2% of the Schedule I dollars. A community nonprofit shouldn't plan on a Komen grant; the realistic routes are cancer-focused foundations and health funders that take applications.

Who Komen grants actually fund

According to Grantsights analysis of Schedule I, 61 grants worth $16.1 million went to 57 differently written recipient names in 23 states and Puerto Rico. The median across all 61 was $158,660; for the 58 research grants alone it was $179,774.

Top research recipients

Several institutions appear under more than one spelling, so Grantsights combined obvious variants:

For example, Princeton received $200,000 for research, the Salk Institute received $150,000, and the University of Utah received $300,000. Smaller research payments went to schools such as Loyola University Chicago ($56,187), the University of Notre Dame ($50,000) and Ponce Medical School Foundation in Puerto Rico ($62,374). Massachusetts led the states with $2,053,726, followed by Texas ($1,748,336), New York ($1,740,031) and North Carolina ($1,715,089).

Patients: 17,087 small grants

According to Schedule I Part III, Komen paid patient care assistance to individuals in 3 sizes during the year: 13,395 grants of $400 ($5,358,000), 2,621 grants of $500 ($1,310,500) and 1,071 grants of $750 ($803,250). That's 17,087 grants worth $7,471,750, nearly half as much as the research grants on Schedule I.

The prior year for comparison

According to the return data for the year ended March 31, 2024, Schedule I listed 55 grants worth $11,708,075 (51 research and 4 patient care), with a median of $105,000. The latest year's larger total reflects bigger research payments, not more community grants.

How to approach Komen, step by step

These steps depend on who you are. They come from BU's summary, Komen's returns and the news reports cited above.

1. Researchers: find your internal deadline now. For the 2026 cycle, BU's internal deadline was June 1, 2026. Ask your research office when it will run the 2027 competition.
2. Researchers: check the career window. CCR stops at 6 years of faculty appointment and excludes past R01 PIs; CTA stops at 5 years of postdoctoral experience.
3. Researchers: watch for June 2027. Search-engine copies of Komen's opportunities page pointed applicants to June 2027 for the next CCR information.
4. IBC researchers: confirm the November 30, 2026 date on Komen's page. Grantsights couldn't open it, so don't rely on this guide's date.
5. Nonprofits: stop waiting for a local Komen grant. Use the cancer and health funders below instead.
6. Patients: call Komen's helpline or ask your treatment center's financial counselor. The National Cancer Institute's page on managing cancer care costs (opens in a new tab) suggests asking hospital social workers about programs beyond insurance.
7. Everyone: verify on komen.org. This guide couldn't read it directly, so treat every Komen date here as a lead to confirm.

What Komen's Grant Pages Don't Tell You

Grantsights compared what could be read about Komen's programs with its 2 most recent returns, and 5 things stood out.

Community grants are effectively gone. 3 patient care grants worth $190,181 in a year, out of $16.1 million on Schedule I, is not a program. Searchers who remember local Komen grants are looking for something that ended with the 2020 consolidation.

Patient help is bigger than it looks, but small per person. $7.5 million reached 17,087 people, mostly at $400 each. That helps with a bill, not a treatment course. Don't underestimate the gap; pair it with hospital charity care.

Research money is concentrated at cancer centers. Dana-Farber, Indiana, UNC, Johns Hopkins and Vanderbilt together took $5.9 million, 37% of Schedule I. A researcher at a smaller school should expect tougher internal and external competition.

The return's totals don't line up. Schedule I lists $16.1 million to organizations while Part IX reports $11.0 million, and Komen's reconciliation mentions $1.1 million in rescinded grants. A red flag for anyone citing a single "Komen gives X" number is ignoring which line it came from.

Komen's site is hard to read automatically. On November 10, 2026, komen.org refused Grantsights' automated requests, including PDFs. Researchers should read the program pages in a normal browser and save copies of the rules for their files.

Where to look instead of Komen

Breast cancer researchers: the National Cancer Institute's grants and training page (opens in a new tab) links to its funding opportunities, application help and research program contacts. See the NIH grants complete guide, the NCI Cancer Center Support Grants guide and the best NIH grants for researchers. Search open federal calls on Grants.gov's search page (opens in a new tab).

Community nonprofits: see grants for cancer support organizations, grants for health nonprofits and foundation grants for nonprofits. Use the Grantsights grant search to check open federal and state programs you qualify for, and Grantsights' health funder lists to see private foundations that funded health work in your state.

Patients: if you were referred to another small-grant charity, read the Modest Needs grants guide first; its website didn't load on November 10, 2026. The National Cancer Institute's cost page lists CancerCare, the Cancer Financial Assistance Coalition, the HealthWell Foundation and the Patient Advocate Foundation, among others. See the HealthWell Foundation grants guide, the PAN Foundation grants guide and help with medical bills.

How Grantsights Checked This Guide

Grantsights checked 6 outside sources and 2 Komen returns on November 10, 2026. ProPublica's record and the return header both show EIN 75-1835298 for Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation in Dallas. ProPublica also lists other Komen-named entities under different EINs; this guide uses the main Dallas return.

Komen files Form 990 because it's a public charity. According to IRS guidance on public charities (opens in a new tab), public charities have an active program of fundraising and receive contributions from many sources, unlike private foundations, which typically have a single major source of funding. Komen's return reports $102.8 million in contributions and grants received for the year ended March 31, 2025.

Sources

• ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer: Susan G Komen Breast Cancer Foundation filings (opens in a new tab)
• Boston University: Susan G. Komen Career Transition Awards and Career Catalyst Research Grants 2026 (May 1, 2026) (opens in a new tab)
• Dallas Innovates: Komen's New $15.4M Grant Round (June 24, 2026) (opens in a new tab)
• San Antonio Report: Komen San Antonio giving out last local grants as national group consolidates (October 5, 2020) (opens in a new tab)
• Susan G. Komen: Current Funding Opportunities (blocked to automated reading on November 10, 2026) (opens in a new tab)
• National Cancer Institute: Grants and Training (opens in a new tab)
• National Cancer Institute: Managing Costs and Medical Information (opens in a new tab)
• IRS: Public Charities (opens in a new tab)
• Grants.gov: Search Grants (opens in a new tab)