About PAS: Our Method

The Philanthropy Advisory Service team has implemented a rigorous methodology that incorporates independent, expert review to ensure accuracy, relevance, and informed opinion all under the oversight of an informed set of advisors.

Disease and Organization Selection

Several diseases were initially considered for pilot. The possibilities were evaluated against a set of criteria such as having defined scientific issues, a broad spectrum of research activities, a critical mass of organizations working in the disease, and accessible disease data. Review of evaluation results with the PAS Advisory Committee resulted in the selection of the four pilot diseases - Alzheimer’s disease, malaria, multiple sclerosis, and tuberculosis.

For Alzheimer’s disease and multiple sclerosis, organizations for review include medical research foundations and strategic intermediaries that fund more than $100,000 in research annually and organizations that provide critical tools and resources to support disease research. For malaria and tuberculosis, organizations also include product development partnerships and private research institutes.

Report Development

The Philanthropy Advisory Service team drafted the disease reports based on an exhaustive review of the literature, including widely acceptable health-related and disease-specific publications, peer reviewed scientific literature, industry filings, and other public and proprietary data sources. The disease reports are reviewed with the respective Scientific Advisory Board for each disease to ensure scientific accuracy as well as to provide insight from those working in the field.

Organization reports are drafted based on reviews of all publically available information (including annual reports, IRS filings, etc), proprietary data provided by organizations (such as research portfolios, strategic plans, etc), and interviews with key organizational leaders. Each organization report is reviewed with the Scientific Advisory Board to provide input as to how the organization is helping meet the needs of the disease field and contributing to the greater research community. Each report also is reviewed by the Organizational Review Board that provides input into the overall assessment of the organization’s performance and contributions within the context of its stated strategy and tenure. Each organization in the PAS has the opportunity to review and provide comment on the organization reports to ensure the data and organizational messages are accurate and up-to-date.

Some organizations that meet the inclusion criteria opted not to participate in the profile development process. Profiles have been developed based on publicly available alone and have not been reviewed by either a Scientific Advisory Board or Organizational Review Board.

Assessment Metrics

The PAS assessment metrics were developed in consultation with the PAS Organizational Review Board and other thought leaders in nonprofit biomedical research. The framework is designed to start a conversation about performance measurement of nonprofit biomedical research. The assessment results are intended to provide guidance to donors about performance relative to an organization’s mission, and do not represent investment recommendations. FasterCures expects to refine the metrics and assessment process over time to continually improve the product and to respond to market needs. FasterCures is thankful for the participation of these organizations in the PAS system.