Supporters of the NPCRC are typically committed to improving care for patients with serious illness and their families, believe that palliative care is essential to this process, and understand that research in palliative care is necessary for developing the evidence base required to improve clinical care.

The NPCRC was established in July 2005 with a grant from the Emily Davie and Joseph S. Kornfeld Foundation. The Kornfeld Foundation was established by Emily Davie Kornfeld in 1979. Mrs. Kornfeld's personal philanthropy supported medical research in the control and treatment of pain, as well as efforts directed at enhancing individual choice in medical treatment and dying. In the last decade the Foundation has evolved its interests to include bioethics, palliative care, medical research and education.

Since its establishment, the NPCRC has received additional funding from the Brookdale Foundation and the Olive Branch Foundation, the American Cancer Society, the American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine, and the National Institute on Aging. The Center uses these funds to help support:

• Critically important research projects conducted by committed and successful palliative care investigators throughout the United States;
• The development of talented young investigators and research leaders through competitive national career development awards; and
• An organizing and strategic home for researchers working in relative isolation in medical centers and universities throughout the country.

If you are an individual or group with similar interests and concerns as the NPCRC and you would like to support our palliative care research initiatives, then please contact our office at (212) 241-5388 or email npcrc@mssm.edu.