INDIANAPOLIS—The Heroes Foundation has distributed $223,500 to bring about measurable, positive impacts for cancer patients, families and researchers in 2025 in Indiana. As a leading advocate for Hoosiers impacted by cancer since 2001, the organization selected nine meaningful projects executed by five world-class partners.
“The Heroes Foundation is proud to support the work of these outstanding organizations,” said Annie Martinez, Executive Director of the Heroes Foundation. “This support is the result of thousands of donors committed to being part of much-needed solutions.”
The Heroes Foundation is a public, grant-making nonprofit organization. Its funds support partners and projects that align with its mission: to provide meaningful support to cancer patients, education to promote cancer prevention, and resources to advance research for a cure.
The Heroes Foundation’s 2025 grant recipients follow:
The Heroes Foundation selects its partners and projects based on their ability to provide effective services and opportunities to cancer patients, their families, and people at risk of developing cancer.
The Heroes Foundation’s Medical Advisory Committee chooses cancer research projects at academic institutions across Indiana and awards seed funding. Many of these gifts are annual commitments to multiyear grants. Without this critical startup funding, many researchers would be incapable of obtaining larger grants and funding sources, bringing their work to a standstill.
Joyce Irwin, President and CEO of Community Health Network Foundation
“We continue to be amazed by the generosity of the Heroes Foundation toward our Oncology Patient Assistance Fund. Originally launched to help patients access healthy food, gas to get to and from treatment and life-saving medicine, it now also offers transportation services from pick-up to drop-off, short-term housing for long-term treatments, and utilities and housing assistance. In 2024 alone, more than 1,600 unique patients were helped by this program, and the needs continue to grow. This ability to act nimbly to meet the needs of our patients is made possible thanks to your support, and we can’t thank you enough for your continued investment in this important program.”
Tarah Ballinger, MD, Vera Bradley Foundation Scholar in Breast Cancer Research and Associate Professor of Medicine at Indiana University School of Medicine
“Generous gifts from the Heroes Foundation allow the Indiana University Simon Comprehensive Cancer Center MOVE program to provide free-of-charge, individualized cancer exercise sessions to patients at any point in their cancer experience. We know that exercise improves not only quality of life, side effects of treatment, and even survival in some cancers, but also improves patients’ outlook and self-image. Heroes provides the support for equipment and trainers to deliver this priceless support.”
Andrew Mesecar, Ph.D., Director, Purdue Institute for Cancer Research
“We established the Tyler Trent Pediatric Cancer Research Center in 2023 about 5 years after Tyler passed of osteosarcoma, to ensure Tyler’s legacy and his desire for more research to develop new treatments to cure pediatric cancers. It has been over 40 years since new treatments have been developed for osteosarcoma which is unfathomable. The gift from the Heroes Foundation will provide much-needed funding to launch three new research projects aimed at developing new treatments for pediatric cancers. Childhood cancer research is underfunded by federal and state agencies which is a tragedy considering in the state of Indiana, childhood cancer is the #1 killer of our kids by disease. It is our mission, and the mission of the Heroes Foundation to change this!”
Katharine White, Ph.D., Harper Cancer Research
“As cancer develops, the pH increases inside affected cells. Our lab is studying the role of pH as it relates to cancer and whether we can target cancer cells with pH-lowering drugs to treat patients or even prevent cancers from forming. If successful, our work will give us better diagnostic and therapeutic approaches to address cancer metastasis. This research is opening new avenues in the fight against cancer, avenues that would remain closed without the support from the Heroes Foundation.”
Transparency and impact are top priorities when the Heroes Foundation awards funding. For more information about our partners and how gifts will be used, please contact Executive Director Annie Martinez at amartinez@heroesfoundation.org.
Celebrating its 25th anniversary in 2025, the Heroes Foundation provides meaningful support to cancer patients, education to promote cancer prevention, and resources to advance research for a cure. The organization was founded by Indianapolis cancer survivor Vince Todd, Jr., in 2001 as a public 501(c)(3) nonprofit. Visit heroesfoundation.org for more.
Copyright ©2025 Heroes Foundation, All Rights Reserved.
