November 10, 2026 - Science Philanthropy Alliance
The “What If…” Awards program, a philanthropic initiative designed to support creative research in biomedical and health science, is pleased to announce its 2026 award recipients. Facilitated by the Science Philanthropy Alliance on behalf of an anonymous funder, the program supports collaborative, interdisciplinary research projects that pose bold “What If…” questions and explore unconventional approaches to some of the most pressing challenges in human health.
Now in its second year, the program continues to support promising ideas that may be too early-stage or speculative to attract traditional research funding. Six research teams from institutions across Chicago were selected for projects exploring innovative approaches to Alzheimer's disease, chronic pain, aphasia, neurodegenerative diseases, and cancer. The selected projects include:
Dr. Milos Simic, Neubauer Family Assistant Professor of Molecular Engineering, University of Chicago: “What if we could program the brain's own cells to fight Alzheimer's disease for us?” — Engineering microglia to act as “smart” therapeutic delivery systems.
Dr. Marwan Baliki, Research Scientist, Shirley Ryan AbilityLab: “What if a brief brain retraining protocol during rehabilitation could eliminate chronic pain?” — Testing pain reprocessing therapy in rehabilitation settings.
Dr. Leora Cherney, Scientific Chair, Think and Speak; Director, Center for Aphasia Research and Treatment, Shirley Ryan AbilityLab: “What if sleep replay could help people with aphasia communicate better?” — Evaluating targeted memory reactivation during sleep for aphasia therapy.
Dr. Alana Kirby, Assistant Professor, and Dr. Liudmila Romanova, Assistant Professor, Rush University: “What if microplastics can hijack the blood-brain barrier and meninges to trigger neurodegenerative disease?” — Investigating microplastics in human and rodent brain.
Dr. Bryan Killinger, Assistant Professor, Rush University: “What if a global map of protein interactions can guide us toward more effective therapies for neurodegenerative diseases?” — Identifying new druggable targets in the human brain.
Dr. Ekrem Emrah Er, Associate Professor, and Dr. Terry Moore, Professor, University of Illinois Chicago: “What if we could stiffen cancer cells so they are shattered by the immune system?” — Leveraging mechanosurveillance to develop new cancer therapeutics.
“The most transformative scientific discoveries often begin with questions that challenge conventional thinking,” said Elizabeth Weiss, Principal Director of Philanthropic Advising at the Science Philanthropy Alliance. “The ‘What If…’ Awards create space for researchers to pursue those questions. We're excited to support another group of scientists whose creativity has the potential to lead to new approaches to improving human health.”
The program is designed to surface interdisciplinary, collaborative projects that push the boundaries of current scientific thinking. Proposals do not require preliminary data, enabling researchers at all career stages to put forward nascent ideas that might otherwise struggle to secure funding. Awardees were selected through a multi-stage review process involving external scientific evaluations and live virtual pitches for a general audience, designed to assess scientific potential while reducing the burden of lengthy applications. Finalists received state-of-the-art science communications training and coaching, building capacity that can last well beyond the application process.
Each award includes $250,000 from the anonymous funder, with a required 1:1 match from the recipient's institution or other donors, bringing the total support per project to $500,000 over two years.
The “What If…” Awards demonstrate how philanthropy can advance scientific discovery by embracing uncertainty, encouraging creativity, and supporting ideas that might otherwise go unexplored.