The St. Louis-based James S. McDonnell Foundation has announced more than $14 million in grants as part of its Twenty-First Century Science initiative.

In 2009, the initiative funded research in three program areas: understanding human cognition, brain cancer research, and studying complex systems. Support for understanding human cognition was provided through targeted awards and collaborative activity awards, while the other programs supported research primarily through a competitive awards process.

The brain cancer research program provides support for research leading to new knowledge with the potential to increase rates of survival while improving functional recovery for people with brain cancer. Studying complex systems supports scholarship and research directed toward the development of theoretical and mathematical tools that can be applied to the study of complex, adaptive, nonlinear systems.

Recipients include the Cambridge-based Massachusetts Institute of Technology, which was awarded $259,000 over three years for investigations into the effects of network structure on social contagions; the Cleveland Clinic Foundation, which was awarded a five-year, $450,000 grant to study micro-environmental reprogramming of glioma cells; and the University of Chile, which will receive more than $1.2 million over three years for its summer school in cognitive science, neuroscience, and education.

"Support of research and applications of research findings to important problems remains a pivotal role for private philanthropy and for the McDonnell Foundation," said vice president Susan Fitzpatrick. "The foundation is committed to the ideal that having a diversity of private and public funders helps ensure that the most creative work will obtain needed support."

For a complete list of 2009 grants, visit the McDonnell Foundation Web site.