Sanford Research

Sanford Research, a nonprofit biomedical research organization headquartered in Fargo, North Dakota, operates as a prime recipient of federal research grants and as a federal contractor on a cancer study cohort recruitment delivery order, with 85% of recent awards held as prime positions and no SBA set-aside designations. The organization is a subsidiary of Sanford Health and works alongside a sibling entity, Sanford Research North.

Sanford Research's federal footprint centers on NIH-funded basic and translational research in cancer biology, pediatric disease, renal and metabolic pathology, and neurodevelopmental mechanisms. Representative work spans the National Cancer Institute's $3.9 million delivery order under the Cancer Study Cohort Recruitment IDIQ (awarded September 2024, ultimate completion September 2027) for cancer study cohort recruitment and research infrastructure development in Sioux Falls, South Dakota; a $350,000 National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases project grant (CFDA 93.859, awarded August 2026) investigating molecular regulators of collecting duct remodeling and water-ion homeostasis through May 2030; a $456,500 National Institute of General Medical Sciences project grant (CFDA 93.859, awarded March 2026) on nucleocytoplasmic compartmentalization and nuclear envelope function through January 2031; and a National Science Foundation Research Experiences for Undergraduates Site award of $378,652 (CFDA 47.074, February 2024 through January 2027) supporting 30 undergraduate students in cellular and molecular biology training over three summers. Recent cancer-focused grants include a National Cancer Institute award for spatiotemporal dynamics of extracellular matrix in ovarian cancer response to platinum treatment ($855,000, awarded May 2025) and an NCI grant on osteosarcoma genetic pathways (awarded April 2025).

Customer concentration is extreme and heavily weighted to the National Cancer Institute. The top five customer agencies account for 69% of awards by count, anchored by the National Cancer Institute (15 awards, $159 million combined potential value), followed by the National Institute of General Medical Sciences (16 awards), the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (5 awards), and smaller presences at the National Heart Lung and Blood Institute and the National Human Genome Research Institute. The Cancer Study Cohort Recruitment delivery order remains the primary parent vehicle, generating 5 task orders worth $9 million in combined potential value. Over the past five fiscal years, award volume has grown from 4 awards in 2022 to a peak of 12 in 2024, with 6 in 2025 and 4 in 2026 year-to-date; nine awards valued at $3.9 million combined potential face ultimate completion within the next twenty-four months and present recompete exposure.

Sanford Research operates as a self-performing research organization on federal grants and contracts. Service Contract Inventory records show minimal federal services contracting footprint — $3 million in SCI-reportable invoicing across FY2022–FY2025 with an average of 4.8 FTEs delivered across those years, reflecting the organization's dominant focus on research grants rather than time-and-materials service contracts. On SCI-reported prime work, median government-paid rates ran around $70/hour, with senior labor pricing through $80/hour. The organization holds no named subcontractors on SCI records and performs all labor in-house on federal service contracts captured in that dataset. In its grant sub-award role, Sanford Research provides specialized cores and biorepository services to prime grantees including the University of North Dakota (on the Translational Science Engaging North Dakota initiative), the Hugo W. Moser Research Institute at Kennedy Krieger (administrative and biomarker core support for rare neurological disease research), Vanderbilt University Medical Center (clinical trial network participation), the University of Michigan (Batten disease research and 3D culture development), and the Benaroya Research Institute (clinical trial site operations for immune tolerance studies). The organization's work is performed in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, with administrative oversight at the Fargo headquarters.