{"entity":{"id":"iwmf","kind":"institution","name":"International Waldenstrom's Macroglobulinemia Foundation","aka":["IWMF","Waldenstrom's Macroglobulinemia Support Group"],"tldr":"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.","asOf":"2026-11-05","links":[{"label":"IWMF: our history","url":"https://iwmf.com/our-history/"},{"label":"IWMF: vision and mission","url":"https://iwmf.com/vision-and-mission/"},{"label":"IRS record (via ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer)","url":"https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/541784426"}],"tags":[],"related":[],"cancers":["waldenstrom"],"sections":[],"technologies":[],"targets":[],"drugs":[],"companies":[],"institutions":[],"pathways":[],"terms":[],"trials":[],"people":[],"bottlenecks":[],"keyPapers":[],"journals":[],"dependsOn":[],"notes":[],"city":"Chicago, IL","country":"US","lat":41.878,"lng":-87.63,"institutionType":"consortium","website":"https://iwmf.com","programs":["Annual Educational Forum for patients","Support groups in the US and abroad","Research funding (since 1999)","Newsletter and patient publications"]},"route":"/institutions/iwmf/","neighbours":{"cancer":[{"id":"waldenstrom","kind":"cancer","name":"Waldenström macroglobulinaemia","route":"/cancers/waldenstrom/"}]}}