Masonic Medical Research Lab

Masonic Medical Research Lab, doing business as Masonic Medical Research Institute, is a nonprofit tax-exempt research organization headquartered in Utica, New York, that receives federal research funding as a prime recipient and subrecipient on NIH-funded basic science and translational medical research grants focused on cardiovascular disease, immunology, and orthopedic biology. The organization operates primarily as a grant recipient rather than a federal contractor and does not hold federal contract vehicles.

The institute's federal footprint centers on the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI), which accounts for 11 of the 28 total awards in the source data. Representative prime grant work includes a $775,089 NHLBI project grant awarded August 1, 2026, running through April 30, 2030, investigating transcriptional regulation in hypoplastic left heart syndrome by examining the role of the MYRF transcription factor in epicardial and endothelial cells using knockout mouse models and single-cell multiomics; a $775,089 NHLBI award (dated March 1, 2023, completion October 31, 2025) studying splenic modulation of SHP-2 activity as a therapeutic option for systemic lupus erythematosus; and an NHLBI project grant (dated September 15, 2024, completion June 30, 2029) on molecular and morphometric imaging of coagulation and inflammation in pulmonary embolism pathogenesis using noninvasive longitudinal multiplexed molecular imaging in a novel murine PE model. The National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases and the National Institute on Aging each account for two awards; the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases accounts for four awards.

Activity has accelerated in recent years: one award in 2022, one in 2023, five in 2024, five in 2025, and seven in 2026. The institute acts as prime recipient on 15 awards (54% of the footprint) and as subrecipient on 13 awards (46%), with subrecipient work spanning collaborations with Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Brigham & Women's Hospital, Northwestern University, the Medical University of South Carolina, and the University of Louisville. Representative subrecipient roles include nanoagent scaffold generation for cell-specific microRNA delivery in models of limb ischemia under a Brigham & Women's Hospital-led NHLBI grant (July 1, 2026); cardiomyocyte electrophysiology and myocardial perfusion evaluation in multiple University of Louisville-led research projects; and drug delivery and spleen-targeted nanoagent development under a Medical University of South Carolina-led NHLBI myocardial infarction study (July 23, 2024). Three awards face ultimate completion within the next twenty-four months. The combined dollars obligated across all 28 awards totals $35 million; performance occurs in Utica, New York, with work spanning cardiovascular, immunological, and inflammatory disease mechanisms.