{"entity":{"id":"daniel-ludwig","kind":"person","name":"Daniel K. Ludwig","aka":[],"tldr":"In 1971 he put nearly all of his international holdings into a cancer research institute that carries his name reluctantly; it has since spent more than $1.8 billion of its own money on cancer science.","summary":"Daniel K. Ludwig (1897-1992) built one of the world's largest shipping and industrial fortunes and, in 1971, launched the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research, endowing it with nearly all of his international holdings; the Institute records that he had to be persuaded strongly to allow his name to be used. Because the Institute funds and runs its own laboratories from its endowment, its scientists could pursue long programmes in tumour immunology, tumour antigens and cancer genomics without grant cycles. Ludwig Cancer Research states that it has invested more than $1.8 billion of its own resources in cancer research and holds an endowment of $1.5 billion, and that Ludwig Centers and professorships created in 2006 at six leading US institutions each receive more than $2 million a year in perpetuity. Few single gifts have funded as much basic cancer biology for as long.","asOf":"2026-09-10","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daniel_K._Ludwig","links":[{"label":"Ludwig Cancer Research: about","url":"https://www.ludwigcancerresearch.org/about/"}],"tags":["hero","donor"],"related":[],"cancers":[],"sections":[],"technologies":["immunotherapy","cgp"],"targets":[],"drugs":[],"companies":[],"institutions":["ludwig-cancer-research","mskcc","mit-koch","stanford","uchicago-cancer","johns-hopkins"],"pathways":[],"terms":[],"trials":[],"people":["james-allison"],"bottlenecks":["b-funding-allocation","b-translational-valley"],"keyPapers":[],"journals":[],"dependsOn":[],"notes":[],"role":"Shipping magnate who endowed the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research in 1971","specialisms":["Cancer research endowment","Institute building","Cancer immunology"],"profiles":[],"papers":[]},"route":"/people/daniel-ludwig/","neighbours":{"section":[{"id":"immunotherapy","kind":"section","name":"Immunotherapy","route":"/fronts/immunotherapy/"}],"technology":[{"id":"cgp","kind":"technology","name":"Comprehensive genomic profiling","route":"/technologies/cgp/"}],"institution":[{"id":"mit-koch","kind":"institution","name":"David H. Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research at MIT","route":"/institutions/mit-koch/"},{"id":"johns-hopkins","kind":"institution","name":"Johns Hopkins Hospital / Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center","route":"/institutions/johns-hopkins/"},{"id":"ludwig-cancer-research","kind":"institution","name":"Ludwig Cancer Research","route":"/institutions/ludwig-cancer-research/"},{"id":"mskcc","kind":"institution","name":"Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center","route":"/institutions/mskcc/"},{"id":"stanford","kind":"institution","name":"Stanford Health Care / Stanford Cancer Institute","route":"/institutions/stanford/"},{"id":"uchicago-cancer","kind":"institution","name":"University of Chicago Medicine Comprehensive Cancer Center","route":"/institutions/uchicago-cancer/"}],"person":[{"id":"james-allison","kind":"person","name":"James P. Allison","route":"/people/james-allison/"}],"bottleneck":[{"id":"b-funding-allocation","kind":"bottleneck","name":"Funding follows fashion, not burden","route":"/bottlenecks/b-funding-allocation/"},{"id":"b-translational-valley","kind":"bottleneck","name":"The valley of death between lab and product","route":"/bottlenecks/b-translational-valley/"}]}}