Van Andel Research Institute

Van Andel Research Institute, doing business as VAI, is a non-profit biomedical research organization based in Grand Rapids, Michigan, that acts as a prime recipient of federal research grants in molecular biology, epigenetics, neurodegenerative disease, and cancer biology. The institute competes exclusively in full-and-open federal grant programs (no set-asides) and receives the bulk of its funding from the National Institutes of Health and the National Science Foundation.

VAI's federal award footprint centers on NIH Project Grants across multiple institutes and centers. The National Cancer Institute leads by volume and dollars—55 awards totaling $62.2 million in combined potential value across recent work in cancer epigenetics, immunotherapy mechanisms, and metabolic regulation in the tumor microenvironment. The National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke represents 24 awards focused on Parkinson's disease mechanisms, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, Alzheimer's disease pathology, and frontotemporal dementia. The National Institute of General Medical Sciences funds work in mitochondrial metabolism, chromatin signaling, and structural biology of RNA-guided enzymes. The National Institute on Aging, the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, and the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development each contribute substantial portfolios addressing aging mechanisms, T cell metabolism, and developmental epigenetics. Together, the top five customer agencies account for approximately 64 percent of awards by count. Work is performed in Wyoming, Michigan, with a headquarters location in Grand Rapids.

Representative prime grant awards span multiple disease areas. The NCI awarded $7.9 million as a cost-no-fee delivery order under an Indefinite Delivery Contract (awarded June 2022, ultimate completion June 2027) for the institute to create and manage a Biospecimen Core Resource under the Cancer Moonshot Biobank program, with performance of biospecimen collection and storage services for acute myeloid leukemia, multiple myeloma, and solid tumor specimens. A $1.5 million NSF Division of Molecular and Cellular Biosciences grant (awarded July 2026, running through June 2030) supports investigation of functional asymmetries of trans-histone and histone-DNA crosstalk in developmental gene expression through assembly of asymmetric nucleosomes and analysis of epigenetic regulation. The Defense Health Agency awarded $840 thousand (July 2026 through June 2028) to investigate reduction of toxicity driven by C9ORF72 repeat expansions in ALS. The NINDS funded a $1.009 million Project Grant (July 2025 through June 2027) for a novel gene therapy approach targeting the kynurenine metabolic pathway to reduce neurotoxicity in Parkinson's disease via adeno-associated virus-mediated enhancement of ACMSD enzyme activity.

The institute's research capability portfolio reflects deep expertise in epigenetic mechanisms and their role in disease. Work centers on DNA methylation and histone post-translational modifications as regulators of gene expression in cancer, neurodegenerative disease, and immune function; single-cell and spatial genomics methods for characterizing molecular heterogeneity in tumor and neuronal populations; metabolic reprogramming in T cell immunity and cancer progression; structural biology of chromatin regulatory proteins and RNA-guided enzymes via cryo-electron microscopy; and models of infectious disease, developmental biology, and age-associated disease. VAI operates the David Van Andel Advanced Cryo-EM facility, which supports collaborative structural work across the grant portfolio.

Activity has grown over the past five years—12 awards in 2023 to 23 in 2024, with 16 each in 2025 and 2026. SCI-reported invoiced revenue on federal service contracts above the $150,000 reporting threshold reached $2 million in FY2025 across 4.9 FTEs, up from $213 thousand and 1.2 FTEs in FY2022. Government-paid median hourly rates on SCI-reportable prime contracts run around $119.96 per hour, with senior labor pricing through $176 per hour. Across SCI-reportable prime contracts, subcontractors account for roughly 3 percent of total contractor hours; three named subcontractors appear in recent SCI records. Thirty-eight awards carrying combined potential value of $7.9 million reach ultimate completion within the next twenty-four months and represent recompete exposure for the institute.

VAI performs as a sub-recipient on federal grants led by universities including Washington University (Somatic Mosaicism across Human Tissues Genome Characterization Center work, multiple sub-awards from June 2023 onwards), Weill Cornell Medicine (structural cryo-EM studies), the University of Florida, Vanderbilt University, Oregon Health & Science University, and UCLA, contributing specialized expertise in genomics, structural biology, and animal modeling to multi-site consortia.