Foundation
Building Better Businesses.
Creating Brighter Futures.
At Milgrew, we believe success is measured by more than the businesses we build.
Through the Milgrew Foundation, we’re committed to improving the lives of children through advances in medicine, compassionate care, and groundbreaking research.
Our current initiative, the $10 Million Cancer Impact Challenge, is a long-term effort to support childhood cancer research, precision medicine, and pediatric healthcare innovation.
Every donation brings us one step closer to creating a brighter future for children and their families.
WHY THIS MATTERS
From Innovation to Impact
Long before I founded Milgrew, my work was focused on a very different kind of challenge.
During my PhD at the University of Glasgow, I invented sensor array chip technology designed to detect the chemical signals produced as DNA is sequenced. I later joined Ion Torrent, where I helped turn that technology into a commercial next-generation sequencing platform.
The technology went on to support research and clinical applications across cancer, inherited disease, infectious disease, reproductive health, and other areas of genomic medicine.
But what has stayed with me most isn’t the technology itself.
It’s what became possible when that technology reached the hands of scientists, physicians, and patients.
The ability to understand disease in new ways. To find answers that previously couldn’t be found. And, in some cases, to help change the course of someone’s life.
That experience shaped how I think about innovation and impact, and it is part of the inspiration behind the Milgrew Foundation.
Mark Milgrew
Founder, Milgrew
REAL-WORLD IMPACT
When Technology Changes a Life
Scientific innovation can feel abstract until you see what it can mean for one person and one family.
Maddie was diagnosed with an aggressive brain cancer as an infant. After initial treatment stopped working, genomic analysis of her tumor identified mutations that helped her medical team determine a more targeted approach to treatment.
The results were extraordinary. Years after a diagnosis that had given her family little reason for optimism, Maddie was off treatment and enjoying childhood.
The next-generation sequencing platform used in her care incorporated sensor array chip technology I originally invented during my PhD research and later helped bring to market.
That’s why this story means so much to me. It represents the journey from an idea conceived in a university laboratory to technology capable of helping physicians find answers for a seriously ill child.
For me, that is what innovation is ultimately about: creating possibilities that didn’t exist before.
Stories like Maddie’s are part of the reason the Milgrew Foundation exists: to help create a future where more children have access to the research, technology, and care that can change what is possible.
OUR MISSION
Creating Brighter Futures for Children
The Milgrew Foundation exists to help improve the lives of children by supporting advances in medicine, scientific research, technology, and compassionate care.
We believe innovation has the greatest impact when it reaches the people who need it most. Our mission is to help turn promising ideas, discoveries, and technologies into meaningful improvements in the lives of children and their families.
We want more children to have the opportunity not simply to survive, but to grow, thrive, and build brighter futures.
THE INITIATIVE
The $10 Million Cancer Impact Challenge
The $10 Million Cancer Impact Challenge is our long-term commitment to help accelerate progress against childhood cancer.
Through the Challenge, we aim to support research, technology, and care that can lead to better ways to understand, diagnose, and treat childhood cancer.
Advanced Research
Support research that deepens our understanding of childhood cancer and creates new possibilities for prevention, diagnosis, and treatment.
Accelerate Precision Medicine
Help advance technologies and approaches that reveal the unique biology of a child’s cancer and enable more precise, personalized treatment.
Improve Pediatric Care
Support innovations that improve the experience and outcomes of children and families throughout diagnosis, treatment, and recovery.
Our goal is to help turn promising research and innovation into measurable, lasting impact for children facing cancer.
MAKE AN IMPACT
Be Part of What Comes Next
Every advance begins with people willing to believe that a better outcome is possible.
Your support can help advance childhood cancer research, precision medicine, and innovations in pediatric care, bringing us closer to a future where more children have the opportunity to grow and thrive.
Every contribution, at every level, can help move this mission forward.