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Team Hydro Foundation
Team Hydro Foundation was established in 2008 by the Finlayson family — Peter, Pam, Samuel, and Grant — following a personal encounter with hydrocephalus, a...
Team Hydro Foundation
Team Hydro Foundation was established in 2008 by the Finlayson family — Peter, Pam, Samuel, and Grant — following a personal encounter with hydrocephalus, a life-threatening brain condition affecting over one million Americans. The foundation operates from Malvern, Pennsylvania, with a mission concentrated solely on funding research to find a cure. The foundation's deployment model is direct and narrow: it raises funds through community-driven endurance events and channels the proceeds into early-stage translational research grants. Asset-class exposure is limited to cash and short-term investments held in Wayne, PA, supporting a grantmaking program executed in partnership with the Hydrocephalus Association and the Rudi Schulte Research Institute. Recent funding cycles have targeted molecular mechanisms of cerebrospinal fluid disorders and novel therapeutic pathways. Peter Finlayson, the foundation's Board Chair and Executive Director, also serves as VP of Marketing at Palvella Therapeutics, a rare-disease drug developer, creating an informal bridge between the foundation's grantmaking and commercial-stage rare-disease expertise. Co-founder Samuel Finlayson, a resident physician at Seattle Children's Hospital and SVP of Medical AI at OpenEvidence, chairs an AI working group within the N=1 Collaborative and sits on the therapeutics matching committee of the Undiagnosed Disease Network. Pam Finlayson, the founders' mother, previously served on the board of the Hydrocephalus Association, the foundation's primary advocacy and research-administration partner. Team Hydro Foundation's structural differentiator is its embeddedness within a practitioner-led rare-disease network. Rather than operating as a general health funder, it functions as a dedicated capital conduit between community fundraising and a tight circle of clinician-scientists — including the Congressional Hydrocephalus Caucus for federal research advocacy — giving it an unusually direct line from donor dollar to bench science.
General information
Firm type
Endowment / Foundation
Year founded
2008
Location
Region
North America
Country
United States
City
Malvern
Corporate office
Malvern, PA, United States
Principals
Peter Finlayson
Co-founder, Board Chair, and Executive Director
Samuel Finlayson
Co-founder and Research Screening Committee member
Pam Finlayson
Co-founder and former Board Member, Hydrocephalus Association
Grant Finlayson
Co-founder and 'Chief Towelholding Officer'
Sector focus
Frequently asked questions
Who runs investment and grantmaking decisions at Team Hydro Foundation?
Co-founder Peter Finlayson serves as Board Chair and Executive Director, overseeing the foundation's operations and grantmaking strategy. His brother, Dr. Samuel Finlayson, sits on the Research Screening Committee, directly evaluating the scientific merit of funding proposals. The foundation collaborates with the Hydrocephalus Association and the Rudi Schulte Research Institute to administer and co-fund research awards.
How does Team Hydro Foundation source its grant pipeline?
The foundation's pipeline is driven by its principals' deep ties to the clinical and research community. Samuel Finlayson's roles with the N=1 Collaborative and the Undiagnosed Disease Network, combined with the foundation's partnership with the Hydrocephalus Association, provide direct access to translational research proposals in cerebrospinal fluid disorders that may be too early-stage for larger institutional funders.
Is Team Hydro Foundation a single-family foundation, and how is it related to Palvella Therapeutics?
Team Hydro Foundation operates as a single-family foundation founded by the Finlayson family. It is legally and financially separate from Palvella Therapeutics, a rare-disease pharmaceutical company where co-founder Peter Finlayson is VP of Marketing. The relationship is a professional network connection; there is no disclosed commingling of assets or formal investment structure linking the two entities.
Does the foundation participate in fund commitments or hold an endowment portfolio?
No. The foundation does not operate a diversified endowment portfolio. Its disclosed assets are limited to cash and short-term investments, held to support near-term grantmaking. All deployment is structured as direct grants to research projects, not as fund commitments or equity investments.
How does the foundation work with the Hydrocephalus Association?
The Hydrocephalus Association is Team Hydro's primary advocacy and research-administration partner. The foundation funnels a portion of its raised funds through the association's established grant programs, leveraging their peer-review infrastructure to identify high-impact research. Pam Finlayson, the founders' mother, is a former board member of the Hydrocephalus Association, deepening the historical connection.
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