Southern Research

Legal name: Southern Research Institute

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
630288868
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2024
Official website data refreshed
Aug 2026
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-T 2024
Location
Birmingham, AL, United States of America
Phone
205-581-2000
Rating
65
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Chemistry, Chemical Engineering

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$50,381,130
Expenses
$49,830,156
Assets
$238,738,191
Liabilities
$57,165,934

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

30 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • JOSHUA CARPENTER (PRESIDENT AND CEO (THRU 12/24))
  • RAY COLEMAN LOPER (INTERIM CEO & CFO)

Highest reported compensation

  • SID J TRANT (INTERIM DIRECTOR): $900,706 total reported compensation
  • RAY WATTS (CHAIRMAN): $809,164 total reported compensation
  • FINIS ST JOHN VI (DIRECTOR (THRU 4/24)): $580,377 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

Southern Research is a not-for-profit scientific research organization that advances breakthroughs in infectious disease, oncology, rare diseases, and beyond.

What it reported doing in 2024

Catalyst by southern research is a unique public health data system that connects patient genomes (and other forms of personalized medical data, potentially including transcriptomics, proteomics, metabolomics and others) to clinical data to support the health of communities. Sr will accomplish this goal by investing infrastructure to (a) expand access to personalized medicine in Alabama, especially in underserved areas of the state; (b) ensure alabamians have more effective diagnostics data to identify and treat underlying conditions and undetected co-morbidities that proved fatal for many alabamians during the covid-19 pandemic; and (c) enable greater access to clinical trials throughout the state. The catalyst program is designed to enhance and provide additioanl preventative care options to alabamians by (1) empowering individual with knowledge about their health; (2) connecting clinical and genomic data with local healthcare providers; and (3) encouraging participation in promising research via targeted clinical trials.

Operating model

Revenue model
Mixed. Its operating money came from several sources; no one source provided a clear majority.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 100% of reported program-service expenses outside its grant, affiliate-payment, and member-benefit lines. This expense classification does not rule out separately announced grant awards.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Program spending has declined or grown slowly and revenue has declined or grown slowly.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 62
  • Transparency & Controls: 71
  • Accountability: 78
  • Sustainability: 51
  • Growth: 20

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 68.5%; rating input score 69
  • Program expense ratio: 70%; rating input score 70
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 93.3%; rating input score 93; 21st percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 2 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 33
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Pass
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Pass
    • Board or committee approval: Missing
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 71.4%; rating input score 71; 22nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 8 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 89
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: Pass
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 1.1%; rating input score 38; 38th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 4.79; rating input score 85; 85th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.24; rating input score 63; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 8.7%; rating input score 4; 4th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -4.8% per year; rating input score 0; 2nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -0.8% per year; rating input score 0; 4th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 3.1% per year; rating input score 100; 21st percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • What they do: 8 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 1 operating location identified
  • Where the money goes: 68.5% of revenue deployed · 70% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 10 of 14 board members independent · 8 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $34.9M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $901K · 30 people listed · 2 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $42.9M reported
  • Consistency: 31 of 31 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 8 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
  • Filing history: 9 filing years from 2010 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 15 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 3 filed related-organization links
  • Grant readiness: Federal tax and exclusion status, award history, and grant-maker relationships.
  • People: Everyone the filings name, and which of them the filings identify by more than a name.
  • Staff and benefit plans: Retirement and health plans the organization files with the Department of Labor, and the people in them.

Key Signals

Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.

  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 38/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Whistleblower policy not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 4/100.