PLATINUM2023

National Center for Health Research

The Voice for Prevention, Treatment, and Policy

aka Cancer Prevention and Treatment Fund   |   Washington, DC   |  http://www.center4research.org

Mission

The mission of the National Center for Health Research is to improve the health and safety of adults and children, through the strategic use of objective, research-based health information to encourage new, more effective programs and policies. Our largest program, the Cancer Prevention and Treatment Fund, conducts and analyzes research that is used to help children and adults across the country reduce their risks of getting all types of cancer, and assists them in choosing the safest and most effective treatments.

Notes from the nonprofit

We are one of the very few health nonprofits that does not accept funding from pharmaceutical companies, medical device companies, chemical companies, or any entities that make products that we evaluate. As a result, we are a small organization. However, as a trusted voice on medical and health issues, we have a disproportionate influence because of the policy makers, opinion leaders, and reporters who value our work and our knowledge. That enables us to help millions of people across the United States.

Ruling year info

1999

President

Dr. Diana Zuckerman

Main address

1001 Connecticut Ave NW Suite 1100

Washington, DC 20036 USA

Show more contact info

Formerly known as

National Center for Policy Research for Women & Families

National Research Center for Women & Families

EIN

52-2169212

NTEE code info

Research Institutes and/or Public Policy Analysis (H05)

Cancer Research (H30)

Breast Cancer Research (H32)

IRS filing requirement

This organization is required to file an IRS Form 990 or 990-EZ.

Sign in or create an account to view Form(s) 990 for 2021, 2020 and 2019.
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Communication

Programs and results

What we aim to solve

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

There are thousands of new medical products every year, and countless new chemical compounds, and the public usually assumes that the U.S. Government would not allow them on the market if they weren't safe and effective. Unfortunately, many of these products can be harmful and too many Americans are unaware of the risks. We address this problem by educating the public and opinion leaders about the safety and effectiveness of medical products and consumer products in our homes and environment. We do that by testifying at federal and state agencies, being widely quoted in major media about these issues almost every week, providing thousands of articles on our 3 websites that are read by millions of people, and providing assistance to individuals who contact us asking for individualized help.

Our programs

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?

Cancer Prevention and Treatment Fund

The Cancer Prevention and Treatment Fund helps children and adults reduce their risks of getting all types of cancer, and assists them in choosing the safest and most effective treatments. We carefully analyze research by scientists around the world, and determine the best strategies for preventing and treating cancer. We help keep you healthy and help you get the best medical care by making information available to doctors, patients, family members, and the public. We offer a free online cancer hotline ([email protected]) to help patients choose the best cancer treatments and learn ways to prevent cancer. Our free booklets for patients and their family members provides the information they need to get the best possible treatment. We save lives by helping get dangerous chemicals banned from homes and communities and banning dangerous products from store shelves. You shouldn’t have to be a scientist to figure out which products are safe for your family every time you shop.

Population(s) Served
Adults
Children and youth
Ethnic and racial groups
People with diseases and illnesses
People with disabilities

The U.S has the most expensive healthcare in the world, but on average people living in the U.S. die at a younger age than most comparable countries. There are many reasons for that, but one is that the FDA approves many pharmaceuticals, biologics, and medical devices that are not proven to be safe or effective for most patients. When FDA approves a medical product, Medicaid and Medicare usually will pay for it, and so will private insurance. Companies are free to charge whatever the market will allow. Thus, the lower standards that FDA has adopted in recent years have resulted in an increasing number of unproven medical products that cost between $100,000-1,000,000 per patient per year. Our program is focused on urging FDA to strengthen its approval standards while we educate patients, health professionals, the media, consumer advocates, and decision makers to understand the importance of meaningful medical evidence to help patients benefit from the best medical treatments.

Population(s) Served
Adults
Children and youth
Ethnic and racial groups
People with disabilities
People with diseases and illnesses

Millions of Americans depend on Medicare and it is essential that the program be available and affordable for current and future beneficiaries. When FDA approves medical products, the agency almost never requires that the products have benefits that outweigh the risks for Medicare beneficiaries, most of whom are over 65, some of whom have disabilities, and many of whom have many health problems. To stay solvent, Medicare must make difficult decisions about which treatments should be eligible for Medicare coverage, especially if they were approved based on small, short-term studies that included few if any people over 65, and few people of color. Our program is actively supporting Medicare's careful decision-making, so that Medicare beneficiaries have affordable access to the most effective treatments and the financial integrity of the Medicare program is protected.

Population(s) Served
Older adults
Seniors
People with disabilities
People with diseases and illnesses
Ethnic and racial groups

Where we work

Videos

Our results

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

How does this organization measure their results? It's a hard question but an important one.

Number of people learning about the risks of e-cigarettes

This metric is no longer tracked.
Totals By Year
Related Program

Cancer Prevention and Treatment Fund

Type of Metric

Outcome - describing the effects on people or issues

Direction of Success

Holding steady

Number of new clients within the past 12 months

This metric is no longer tracked.
Totals By Year
Type of Metric

Outcome - describing the effects on people or issues

Direction of Success

Increasing

Number of time we testified before state or federal agencies about the safety of medical or consumer products

This metric is no longer tracked.
Totals By Year
Type of Metric

Context - describing the issue we work on

Direction of Success

Holding steady

Number of women we helped obtain insurance coverage for surgery

This metric is no longer tracked.
Totals By Year
Type of Metric

Outcome - describing the effects on people or issues

Direction of Success

Increasing

Train patients and health professionals to advocate for better medical care

This metric is no longer tracked.
Totals By Year
Type of Metric

Outcome - describing the effects on people or issues

Direction of Success

Holding steady

Educate the public about how to prevent and treat cancer and other serious health problems

This metric is no longer tracked.
Totals By Year
Type of Metric

Output - describing our activities and reach

Direction of Success

Increasing

Goals & Strategy

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

Learn about the organization's key goals, strategies, capabilities, and progress.

Charting impact

Four powerful questions that require reflection about what really matters - results.

Our main goal is to educate patients, consumers, health professionals, and the public about the risks and benefits of different medical and consumer products. Although we have a very modest budget, we have a disproportionate impact because we are well respected in our field, and widely quoted in the major media as well as websites, and everyone knows we do not accept funding from companies that make the products that we evaluate. We achieve our goals by testifying at federal and state agencies or providing written advice at least twice each month, we provide thousands of articles on our 3 websites that are easy to understand and read by millions of people , and we also provide assistance to individuals who contact us asking for individualized help. For example, one of our programs has helped more than 12,000 individuals since 2018 by providing guidance of how to get insurance coverage for medically necessary surgery.

In addition to our work on the individual and state and national level, we have trained thousands of nonprofit leaders, patient and consumer advocates, and health professionals. That means that each person we train will in turn help thousands more health professionals, patients, and consumers in the years to come.

Our staff are highly trained professionals who know how to work with health professionals, patients, researchers, consumers, and the media. That is why we have such a disproportionate impact on the issues we focus on.

We have been instrumental in passing several laws that reduced toxic chemical exposures that have harmed babies and toddlers as well as teenagers and adults. We have also successfully blocked legislation that would have weakened safeguards that were designed to protect millions of Americans and ensure that cancer drugs and other medications are safe and effective. We have educated millions of people through earned media, published book chapters and medical journal articles, and commentaries aimed at the general public.

How we listen

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

Seeking feedback from people served makes programs more responsive and effective. Here’s how this organization is listening.

done We shared information about our current feedback practices.

  • How is your organization using feedback from the people you serve?

    To identify bright spots and enhance positive service experiences, To make fundamental changes to our programs and/or operations, To inform the development of new programs/projects, To identify where we are less inclusive or equitable across demographic groups, To strengthen relationships with the people we serve, To understand people's needs and how we can help them achieve their goals

  • Which of the following feedback practices does your organization routinely carry out?

    We collect feedback from the people we serve at least annually, We take steps to get feedback from marginalized or under-represented people, We aim to collect feedback from as many people we serve as possible, We take steps to ensure people feel comfortable being honest with us, We look for patterns in feedback based on demographics (e.g., race, age, gender, etc.), We look for patterns in feedback based on people’s interactions with us (e.g., site, frequency of service, etc.), We engage the people who provide feedback in looking for ways we can improve in response, We act on the feedback we receive, We share the feedback we received with the people we serve, We tell the people who gave us feedback how we acted on their feedback, We ask the people who gave us feedback how well they think we responded

  • What challenges does the organization face when collecting feedback?

    It is difficult to find the ongoing funding to support feedback collection

Financials

National Center for Health Research
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Operations

The people, governance practices, and partners that make the organization tick.

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Connect with nonprofit leaders

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Connect with nonprofit leaders

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Build relationships with key people who manage and lead nonprofit organizations with GuideStar Pro. Try a low commitment monthly plan today.

  • Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
  • Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
  • Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations

Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights? Learn More about GuideStar Pro.

National Center for Health Research

Board of directors
as of 09/08/2023
SOURCE: Self-reported by organization
Board chair

Dr. Diana Zuckerman

National Center for Health Research

Benjamin Gitterman, M.D.

Children's Medical Center

Nancy Hardt, M.D.

University of Florida College of Medicine

Alan Mendelson

Axiom Venture Partners

Judith L. Harris, J.D.

Matthew Harris Ornstein Memorial Foundation

Susan Wood

George Washington Univesity and Jacob's Institute of Women's Health

Sarah Deutch, J.D.

Attorney

Duchy Trachtenberg

Former Councilmember, Montgomery County, MD

Brandel France del Bravo

Consultant

Dan Fox

President Emeritus, Milbank Memorial Fund

Susan Wilke, PhD, MBA

Venture Capitalist

Board leadership practices

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

GuideStar worked with BoardSource, the national leader in nonprofit board leadership and governance, to create this section.

  • Board orientation and education
    Does the board conduct a formal orientation for new board members and require all board members to sign a written agreement regarding their roles, responsibilities, and expectations? Yes
  • CEO oversight
    Has the board conducted a formal, written assessment of the chief executive within the past year ? Yes
  • Ethics and transparency
    Have the board and senior staff reviewed the conflict-of-interest policy and completed and signed disclosure statements in the past year? Yes
  • Board composition
    Does the board ensure an inclusive board member recruitment process that results in diversity of thought and leadership? Yes
  • Board performance
    Has the board conducted a formal, written self-assessment of its performance within the past three years? No

Organizational demographics

SOURCE: Self-reported; last updated 9/1/2023
info Candid has made improvements to the race and ethnicity options.

Who works and leads organizations that serve our diverse communities? Candid partnered with CHANGE Philanthropy on this demographic section.

Leadership

The organization's leader identifies as:

Race & ethnicity
White/Caucasian/European
Gender identity
Female, Not transgender (cisgender)
Sexual orientation
Heterosexual or straight
Disability status
Person without a disability

Race & ethnicity

Gender identity

 

Sexual orientation

Disability

We do not display disability information for organizations with fewer than 15 staff.

Equity strategies

Last updated: 08/31/2023

GuideStar partnered with Equity in the Center - an organization that works to shift mindsets, practices, and systems to increase racial equity - to create this section. Learn more

Data
  • We review compensation data across the organization (and by staff levels) to identify disparities by race.
  • We ask team members to identify racial disparities in their programs and / or portfolios.
  • We analyze disaggregated data and root causes of race disparities that impact the organization's programs, portfolios, and the populations served.
  • We disaggregate data to adjust programming goals to keep pace with changing needs of the communities we support.
  • We employ non-traditional ways of gathering feedback on programs and trainings, which may include interviews, roundtables, and external reviews with/by community stakeholders.
  • We have long-term strategic plans and measurable goals for creating a culture such that one’s race identity has no influence on how they fare within the organization.
Policies and processes
  • We use a vetting process to identify vendors and partners that share our commitment to race equity.
  • We have a promotion process that anticipates and mitigates implicit and explicit biases about people of color serving in leadership positions.
  • We seek individuals from various race backgrounds for board and executive director/CEO positions within our organization.
  • We have community representation at the board level, either on the board itself or through a community advisory board.
  • We help senior leadership understand how to be inclusive leaders with learning approaches that emphasize reflection, iteration, and adaptability.
  • We engage everyone, from the board to staff levels of the organization, in race equity work and ensure that individuals understand their roles in creating culture such that one’s race identity has no influence on how they fare within the organization.