# International Waldenstrom's Macroglobulinemia Foundation

Source: https://onco.cc/institutions/iwmf/  
OnCo record `iwmf` (Institution). Data CC BY-NC 4.0, attribute "Data from OnCo (onco.cc)"; commercial use needs a licence.

## TL;DR

A patient-founded US foundation for people with Waldenström macroglobulinaemia, a rare lymphoma, that runs support groups and educational forums and has funded research on the disease since 1999.

## Summary

The International Waldenstrom's Macroglobulinemia Foundation began as the Waldenstrom's Macroglobulinemia Support Group, started by Arnold Smokler, a retired pharmacist diagnosed with the disease in 1994, who wrote to 21 patients listed by the National Organization for Rare Disorders, according to its history page. The page records a newsletter from 1995, the first patient conference in 1996, IRS approval as a 501(c)(3) in September 1996, and the adoption of the IWMF name by early 1998. It describes itself as patient-founded and patient-driven, with a mission to support and educate everyone affected by Waldenström macroglobulinaemia and to advance research, and states that it has invested more than $30 million in research since 1999. The IRS records it in Chicago, Illinois.

## Fields

- Kind: Institution
- Last checked: 2026-11-05
- Also known as: IWMF; Waldenstrom's Macroglobulinemia Support Group
- City: Chicago, IL, US
- Type: consortium
- Website: https://iwmf.com

## Sources

- IWMF: our history: https://iwmf.com/our-history/
- IWMF: vision and mission: https://iwmf.com/vision-and-mission/
- IRS record (via ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer): https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/541784426

## Connected records

- cancers: [Waldenström macroglobulinaemia](https://onco.cc/cancers/waldenstrom/)

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JSON: https://onco.cc/api/v1/entities/iwmf.json