RESEARCH INTERESTS                                                    

The Gerber Foundation’s mission focuses on the nutrition, care and development of infants and young children. Therefore, grant-making interests are focused on health and/or nutrition-related research having a significant impact on issues facing infants and young children from the first year before birth to age 3.

The Foundation is particularly interested in fresh approaches to solving newborn or pediatric problems or emerging issues with a predictable time frame to clinical application. Projects should be focused on issues faced by care providers that, when implemented, will improve the health, nutrition and/or developmental outcomes for infants and young children. Projects may include:

• Etiologic mechanisms of disease
• New, improved or less invasive diagnostic procedures
• Reduction or elimination of side effects
• Alleviation of symptoms
• New, improved or less invasive therapies, care, or treatments
• Dosage or dosing requirements or mechanisms for drugs, nutrient supplementation or other therapeutic measures (under or overdosing)
• Preventative measures

Competitive requests will be focused in a way to achieve measurable outcomes that could result in systemic practice changes within a reasonable period of time.

The Foundation gives priority to projects of national or regional impact. Foundation support is not typically ongoing. Project outcomes should be of sufficient impact, if successful, to generate long-term support from other sources.

What We Do Not Fund

While we endeavor to maintain a high degree of flexibility in our programming, we do observe several practical limitations. We do not make grants or loans:

• To individuals
• For operating support
• For endowment support
• For national child welfare programs
• For international based programs
• For product testing related to commercialization purposes
• For exclusive food or baby products giveaway programs
• Capital campaign support outside of the West Michigan giving area