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Category: Jewish Causes

Arts & Culture
January 13, 2026
Ken Burns Kicks Off Ringling College Speaker Series, Previews Upcoming Documentaries

Award-winning documentary filmmaker Ken Burns recently kicked off the Ringling College of Art and Design’s TOWN HALL Speaker Series in Sarasota, sharing insights into several upcoming projects, including work on LBJ and the Great Society, Emancipation to Exodus, and a history of the CIA. Burns emphasized the power of storytelling to deepen public understanding of history, a mission that aligns with the Better Angels Society, a nonprofit that supports excellence in American history documentaries and civic engagement, including work associated with Burns. The Blavatnik Family Foundation is proud to support Ken Burns and the Better Angels Society in its efforts to broaden access to meaningful historical narratives that educate and connect audiences across generations.

Arts & Culture
January 8, 2026
The Spiritual Yearnings of David Bowie

The Spectator reviews a wave of recent books published a decade after David Bowie’s death, examining how his work continues to be reinterpreted through religion, spirituality and cultural history. The article considers Bowie’s lifelong engagement with belief and meaning, alongside differing critical approaches to his later career. It also reflects on the lasting impact of the V&A’s exhibition David Bowie Is…, which helped reshape public and scholarly understanding of his legacy. In tracing Bowie’s posthumous afterlife, the piece highlights the David Bowie Archive, now open to the public at the V&A East Storehouse. Comprising more than 90,000 items, the Archive was established with major support from the Blavatnik Family Foundation and Warner Music Group. Together, the books, exhibition and archive point to Bowie’s continuing presence in the cultural imagination.

Blavatnik Awards
January 7, 2026
PFAS, Microplastics and What Comes Next for North Carolina’s Water

North Carolina is confronting complex water-quality challenges as regulators consider binding limits on per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) and scientists broaden their focus to include microplastics, which increasingly are found alongside PFAS in water and food. As the state’s Environmental Management Commission weighs new rules to reduce these persistent contaminants, researchers are advancing practical treatment solutions for existing systems. Among them is Frank Leibfarth, a 2025 Blavatnik Awards for Young Scientists National laureate whose work on advanced polymer materials and pilot-scale removal technologies aims to capture and destroy PFAS while informing sustainable plastic design—exemplifying the kind of innovation needed to protect public health and water resources in North Carolina.

Scientific Research
January 5, 2026
Q&A: A Blavatnik Fellow’s Journey: Ying Kai Chan on Vision Science, Innovation, and Cirrus Therapeutics

Dr. Ying Kai Chan, a Blavatnik Fellow in Life Science Entrepreneurship at Harvard Business School, reflects on his path from academic immunology to co-founding Cirrus Therapeutics, a biotechnology company focused on developing new treatments for chronic blinding diseases. In a recent HBS interview, he describes how the Fellowship’s combination of scientific rigor, business training, and close mentorship helped him bridge the gap between discovery and application, equipping him to translate vision science into therapies with the potential to improve patients’ lives. Chan highlights the importance of interdisciplinary learning, trusted advisors, and a clear sense of purpose, noting that the Fellowship provided both the skills and the community needed to pursue innovation grounded in real human need.

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Discover the cutting-edge science we fund

Providing many of the world's best researchers, scientists, and universities with support, and funding to discover breakthroughs that solve humankind's greatest challenges.

See how we support great cultural institutions around the world

The Foundation contributes to renowned institutions that showcase the breadth of arts and culture, including performance, exhibition and education.

Visit the Blavatnik Archive

The Blavatnik Archive is a nonprofit foundation dedicated to preserving and disseminating materials that contribute to the study of 20th-century Jewish and world history, with a special emphasis on World War I, World War II, and Soviet Russia.

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Blavatnik Family Foundation
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