Atlantic Health announced that the founders of a Florham Park investment firm, Bruce I. Jacobs and Kenneth N. Levy, pledged $5 million to Atlantic Health, its biggest research gift: a pledge to establish a new endowment dedicated to cancer research. Atlantic Health announced the pledge on Wednesday, October 14, 2026; it will establish what's being called the Jacobs Levy Clinical Research and Innovation Endowment, a fund meant to bankroll oncology studies, clinical trials and new cancer treatments for years to come.
Atlantic Health announced the pledge on October 14, calling it the largest donation to support research that it has received to date, according to a news release distributed via PR Newswire. As TAPinto reported, Jacobs Levy Equity Management is marking its 40th anniversary this year, and the gift builds on a relationship with Atlantic Health and the Foundation for Morristown Medical Center that stretches back decades.
A Fund Designed to Outlast Any Single Grant
Unlike a one-time donation, the endowment is structured to generate annual income in perpetuity, creating a sustainable source of funding for Atlantic Health's Clinical Research and Innovation Institute, per the release. That income is meant to support investigator-led studies, clinical trials and research across several Atlantic Health sites, with the stated goal of improving patient outcomes in cancer care.
The money could flow toward a wide range of efforts, including developing and evaluating new therapies, technologies and models of care, as well as expanding patient access to cutting-edge oncology clinical trials and fostering early-stage research, the release states. Saad Ehtisham, president and CEO of Atlantic Health, praised the gift and said, according to TAPinto, that it will give the system's clinicians resources to pursue novel medicine and advance cancer care.
Decades of Giving Before the Record-Setting Pledge
This isn't the first time Jacobs and Levy have opened their checkbooks for Atlantic Health. Over the past 25 years, the firm has contributed more than $1.4 million in support of patient care, medical research and other programs, per the prnewswire.com release. That history includes a $1 million gift to establish the Jacobs Levy Genomic Medicine and Research Program, a $250,000 contribution to the Chambers Center for Well-Being, a $75,000 gift to the Atlantic Health Gagnon Cardiovascular Institute and a $50,000 gift to Atlantic Health Goryeb Children's Hospital, according to TAPinto's reporting.
The firm has also made annual contributions to the pediatric Child Life Program since 2007 and has supported pandemic relief efforts, TAPinto reported. The relationship traces back further still: in 2011, Jacobs and Levy donated $1 million to fund the Jacobs Levy Equity Management Personalized Genomic Medicine Program at Morristown Medical Center, according to an earlier prnewswire.com release announcing that gift. Jacobs Levy Equity Management was founded in 1986 and is based in Florham Park, that same release noted.
What the Endowment Could Mean for Patients
Atlantic Health is currently pioneering nearly 180 nationally and internationally recognized clinical trials, including Phase 1 early development trials, according to the release announcing the new endowment. The system's broader cancer research work already spans breast, brain, gastrointestinal, ovarian and pancreatic cancers, melanoma and multiple myeloma, per TAPinto's reporting.
That infrastructure includes the Atlantic Health Cancer Consortium, which covers about 70% of New Jersey's population and aims to expand clinical trial access to adults and children, particularly ethnic and racial minorities who are often underrepresented in cancer research, according to Atlantic Health's cancer research program page. The system also partners with Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey to offer a precision-medicine clinical trial for patients with rare cancers or cancers that no longer respond to standard treatment, according to a notice from the Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey.
In December 2025, Atlantic Health announced it was treating the first patient in the Northeast with a new cellular immunotherapy for glioblastoma as part of a Phase 2 trial, according to a separate Atlantic Health press release. That trial is evaluating the therapy, known as DOC1021, in combination with standard-of-care treatment versus standard-of-care treatment alone, the release noted — the kind of research Atlantic Health says the new endowment is designed to help sustain over the long term.
