The Future of Research: Coalitions for Future Impact

The global research and development (R&D) ecosystem is estimated to grow to $1.25T by 2025. Fueled by investments from across the public and private sectors, this rapidly changing arena is becoming increasingly and incredibly diverse. What was once primarily a government-fueled engine of innovation has expanded to encompass businesses, nonprofits, foundation entities, and more. Likewise,…

Read More

Celebrating 2023’s Progress and Breakthroughs

Medical research

Since our official launch in 2019, The Karen Toffler Charitable Trust (KTCT) has been providing essential funding and forging meaningful connections to support, promote, and advance the work of researchers who are exploring medical solutions at the furthest edges of science.

Read More

Dr. Julia TCW: Impact update

Solving humanity’s greatest challenges requires bold, visionary researchers who look beyond the traditional confines of science and medicine to create new possibilities. Karen Toffler Charitable Trust fuels the work of these pioneers through our future-focused framework — one that hinges on early-stage research, high-impact ideas, and cross-disciplinary problem-solving. Due to the nascent stages of their…

Read More

Revolutionizing Lewy Body Dementia Research

Brain scan

The Karen Toffler Charitable Trust (KTCT) is supporting cutting-edge scientists like Dr. LaVoie to explore the uncharted territory of high-risk research. With their funding, Dr. LaVoie has uncovered an exciting new avenue of research that could revolutionize the way we approach Lewy Body Dementia. When Dr. LaVoie was awarded a Grant from the Karen Toffler…

Read More

The Future of Research: Powershifts and Implications

Close up of liquid being added to a test tube.

The global research and development (R&D) ecosystem is changing rapidly and dramatically. An arena once dominated, fueled, and funded by U.S. federal government organizations like the National Science Foundation, NIH, NASA, Office of Naval Research, and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is now being driven — and bankrolled — by investors from industry,…

Read More

MBI Rising Stars: Adithya Gopinath

Toffler Scholar Adithya Gopinath’s research explores the connection between the brain and the peripheral immune system in people with Parkinson’s disease with the goal of developing a blood test to diagnose and monitor the disease and evaluate whether treatments are working. Learn more about his research in this article from University of Florida.

Read More

Deep Learning Algorithm Outperforms Experts in Making Alzheimer’s Diagnosis

About 46.8 million people worldwide were living with dementia in 2015, and this number could double by 2035. Reliably differentiating between normal cognitive aging, mild cognitive impairment, and dementia requires significant clinical acumen from qualified specialists treating memory disorders, yet timely access to memory clinics is often limited for patients and families. Boston University Toffler…

Read More

Alzheimer’s Disease in Women

UCLA Toffler Scholar Dr. Elizabeth Rose Mayeda was part of the team that presented research that begins to give us insight into why Alzheimer’s disease affects more women than men and why the disease seems to progress more quickly in women’s brains. Learn more about her research in this article from NPR.

Read More

Three UCLA Students Receive Toffler Scholar Awards

Cynthia Beard, Lara Yoon, and Catherine Psaras have earned the Toffler Scholar Award. These three students from the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health were chosen through a competitive submission process led by the epidemiology department. Learn more about these three students and their research in this article from UCLA.

Read More