In November 2018, the Foundation pledged $200 million to Harvard Medical School to accelerate the pace of therapeutic discovery and to support initiatives aimed at solving some of humanity’s most acute biomedical challenges. The gift, the largest in the HMS’s 236-year history, will help propel Harvard’s mission to transform health through curiosity-driven research, stimulating the development of new therapies and tools to diagnose and prevent disease.
In addition, beginning in 2009, the Foundation donated $75 million to Harvard University to expedite the development of basic scientific discoveries into new, breakthrough therapies and cures for diseases and to promote the nexus between scientific innovation and business. The funding created the Blavatnik Biomedical Accelerator, bridging the gap between innovative, early-stage scientific research and the development of high-impact biomedical products. Projects include research on cancer immunology, regenerative medicine, neuroscience, infectious diseases and reproductive medicine.
The funding also created the Blavatnik Fellowship in Life Science Entrepreneurship Program at Harvard Business School, which offers five M.B.A. students the opportunity to experience entrepreneurship in life science through exposure to biomedical projects supported by the Blavatnik Biomedical Accelerator and by working with inventors from Harvard’s research laboratories to promote the commercialization of innovative life science-oriented technologies. To date, nearly 50 projects have been funded, half of which are in alliances with biopharmaceutical partners or new companies commercializing health-related products and services.
The Foundation has provided $5 million to the Eli and Edythe L. Broad Institute of Harvard and Massachusetts Institute of Technology for cancer vaccine research.
The Foundation has been a major supporter of the American Secretaries of State Project, a joint initiative of Harvard Kennedy School, Harvard Law School, and Harvard Business School. The project has conducted nine in-depth interviews with former U.S. Secretaries of State.
The Foundation is also providing significant financial support for the construction of the new American Repertory Theater at Harvard University.
To learn more about the Blavatnik Biomedical Accelerator, the Blavatnik Fellowship in Life Science Entrepreneurship, as well as the Len Blavatnik (MBA 1989) Fellowship, and the American Secretaries of State Project, visit the Blavatnik Funds at Harvard University Stewardship Portal.
