Science Ecosystem
New Therapies and Prevention
From emerging therapeutics to precision prevention, scientific advances offer new pathways to keep people healthy and intervene earlier when disease strikes. Yet the path from discovery to impact is full of scientific, structural, and financial hurdles. SPARC bridges these gaps, working at the crossroads of translational science, prevention, and philanthropy to move promising science from bench to bedside and reimagine disease prevention.
Turning biomedical discoveries into therapies and scalable prevention requires collaboration, long-term vision, and smart investment. Too often, research stalls in the “valley of death”—too early for industry, too costly for academia. Precision health also faces barriers: fragmented data, poor coordination, and underfunded projects.
SPARC is rewiring the system. We partner with funders to find high-impact opportunities where philanthropy can de-risk early science, build infrastructure, and accelerate new paradigms of care. From nonprofit drug development to precision prevention road maps, we push the boundaries of what’s possible.
Our Work
Therapeutic Development
The 2020 report Nonprofits: A Growing Force in Drug Development explores how nonprofits support translational and preclinical drug development, traditionally an underfunded and risky stage. The report describes financial mechanisms that nonprofits use to move promising therapies forward.
Next Generation Prevention: A Giving Smarter Guide
This Giving Smarter Guide outlines opportunities for philanthropy to advance progress in precision health, including how to address key challenges and barriers. It offers actionable solutions to shift the biomedical and health-care ecosystem from reactive to proactive.
Pediatric Preventive Health Care
This white paper provides an overview of pediatric preventive care in the United States, with a focus on diabetes and early intervention. It examines gaps in the current system and points to ways philanthropy can support improved health trajectories for children.
Neurotechnology: A Giving Smarter Guide
This guide explores the rapidly evolving field of neurotechnology, highlighting how devices and technologies can restore or enhance nervous system function in ways that traditional drugs cannot. It outlines the opportunities and challenges for philanthropic investment, offering insights into how funders can accelerate innovation in brain health and neurological care.
