The historic gift establishes the Hale Family Collaborative of New England Investigators, while committing $11 million to BCRF Ventures to advance critical research
NEW YORK, NY – October 16, 2026 – In an extraordinary act of generosity and hope, philanthropists Karen and Rob Hale have made a transformational $50 million gift to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation (BCRF)—the largest single gift ever made to breast cancer research. Following their remarkable $10 million gift in 2024, the Hales have once again demonstrated their deep commitment to advancing research and changing the future of people facing breast cancer.
Their generosity represents more than an unprecedented investment in science; it’s an investment in hope, discovery, and the lives of countless patients and families.
The Hales’ extraordinary new $50 million commitment will dramatically expand BCRF’s ability to support scientists pursuing breakthroughs across the breast cancer research continuum, from preventing breast cancer from taking root and detecting it earlier, to developing new treatments for advanced disease. The historic investment will accelerate discovery across five critical areas where the need, and the opportunity for impact, is greatest: breast cancer in younger women, metastatic disease, artificial intelligence, immunotherapy, and prevention.
Together, the Hales investment has the potential to change the trajectory of breast cancer for generations to come–and to bring new hope to patients and families facing this disease today.
Karen and Rob Hale are longtime supporters of the Breast Cancer Research Foundation and among the country’s leading philanthropists. Karen has served on BCRF’s Board of Directors since 2019 and was named co-chair in 2024. In 2016, the Hales were honored with the Inaugural Carolyn Lynch Humanitarian Award at BCRF’s Boston Hot Pink Party, celebrating their dedication to impact-driven philanthropy, especially in furthering medical research.
“Breast cancer has touched my family deeply. Having more time with my mother as she lives with metastatic disease, and now having the power to potentially stave off a breast cancer diagnosis through an AI-based risk assessment—both a result of BCRF-funded research—has made this cause especially personal,” said Karen Hale, co-chair of the Breast Cancer Research Foundation Board of Directors. “We are proud to make a gift that will have a meaningful and lasting impact for patients and families facing breast cancer. BCRF has the reach and expertise to put this gift to work in ways that will make a real difference and advance discoveries that will shape the future of breast cancer.”
This funding will also establish the Hale Family Collaborative of New England Investigators, bringing together BCRF researchers across leading Boston-area institutions to strengthen collaboration across disciplines and organizations. The Collaborative will create deeper connections among investigators working at the forefront of breast cancer research and help advance new approaches to understanding, preventing, and treating the disease.
The gift will also direct $11 million to BCRF Ventures, the Foundation’s venture philanthropy fund designed to accelerate promising breast cancer innovations from the laboratory to patients, recently announced at the Clinton Global Initiative. This new program will support early-stage companies developing new approaches to breast cancer prevention, detection, diagnosis, and treatment—targeting a persistent funding gap that causes potentially transformative science to stall before it reaches clinical development.
“The Breast Cancer Research Foundation funds the most important and promising work in breast cancer research, and we want to help accelerate it,” said Rob Hale. “We’re entrusting BCRF with this gift because we have seen first-hand the power the Foundation wields when it comes to driving change and bringing scientists together. We want to fund the best, and the best is BCRF. It really is just that simple.”
“This extraordinary gift gives BCRF researchers an incredible opportunity to advance progress across some of the most important frontiers in breast cancer,” said Donna McKay, president and CEO, Breast Cancer Research Foundation. “Karen and Rob understand that progress depends on giving world-class scientists the resources to pursue breakthrough research. Their generosity will advance new approaches to prevention and treatment, while bringing researchers together through the Hale Family Collaborative to move promising innovations from the lab to patients.”
