The Jerusalem Post examines the Blavatnik Family Foundation’s longstanding partnership with Tel Aviv University and its support for scientific discovery, technological innovation, and filmmaking. The partnership expanded through the Blavatnik Initiative, established in 2014 to support research, faculty recruitment, and student opportunities. The Blavatnik Center for Drug Discovery provides equipment and expertise to help researchers advance promising findings toward potential treatments, including research into repairing heart tissue following a heart attack. Support for computer science and artificial intelligence strengthens research and graduate training while extending computational approaches across academic disciplines. The Blavatnik Interdisciplinary Cyber Research Center brings together technical, political, legal, and social perspectives on cybersecurity. At the Steve Tisch School of Film and Television, the Blavatnik Student Film Production Fund helps emerging filmmakers bring their ideas to the screen. In 2018, Len Blavatnik described the Foundation’s goal as helping “advance the next discoveries and support future generations of Israeli scientists and researchers.”
Yale School of Medicine is launching a new research initiative to deepen understanding of inflammation in health and disease, supported by a $10 million grant from the Blavatnik Family Foundation. The initiative will be directed by Ruslan Medzhitov, Sterling Professor of Immunobiology, who was an inaugural laureate of the Blavatnik Awards for Young Scientists in 2007. He will lead the work alongside Yale colleagues Noah Palm, Liza Konnikova, and Akiko Iwasaki. Bringing together researchers across disciplines, the initiative will examine how infection, environmental factors, and the microbiome influence inflammation, seeking to uncover biological principles that connect seemingly unrelated conditions. The grant will also establish the Blavatnik Graduate and Postdoctoral Fellows program, supporting the next generation of inflammation researchers. This commitment builds on more than a decade of Foundation support for biomedical research at Yale. “Yale School of Medicine’s exceptional scientists are uniquely positioned to break new ground in inflammation science,” said Len Blavatnik.
The sixth Blavatnik US–Israel Scientific Forum, a joint initiative of the Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities and the U.S. National Academy of Sciences (NAS), took place in Jerusalem on October 13–15, 2026. Focusing on Decision Making, the Forum marked its return to Israel. The forum brought together leading researchers from Israel and the United States for interdisciplinary discussions on the mechanisms that shape decision-making at the individual, societal, and institutional levels. Topics included decision-making under uncertainty, trauma and community resilience, the role of psychological factors in the design of markets and economic mechanisms, and the use of scientific evidence to inform public policy and communicate scientific findings to policymakers.
Brown University has announced the next cohort of students to receive the Blavatnik Family Graduate Fellowship in Biology and Medicine, which is made possible through a generous, multi-year donation from the Blavatnik Family Foundation. The eight Blavatnik Family Fellows were selected based on outstanding academic achievement and demonstrated potential for producing original research that advances scientific knowledge and understanding in the basic and clinical life sciences. The fellows are doctoral candidates in the Brown Division of Biology and Medicine’s graduate programs. “It’s a great pleasure to welcome the new Blavatnik Family Fellows, each of whom has shown enormous promise for continued, innovative research in the years ahead,” said Len Blavatnik, Founder of Access Industries and Head the Blavatnik Family Foundation. This is the fourth cohort of the fellowship, which was first awarded in 2023. Each fellow receives one academic year of support, as well as a research fund.
For patients and families facing pancreatic cancer, there are few promising treatments. Pancreatic tumors are especially difficult to treat and often resist therapies that work against other cancers. Pancreatic tumors create a formidable defense, surrounding themselves with dense scar tissue and immune cells that suppress the body’s natural response. Immune cells struggle to reach the cancer, and treatments that succeed against other tumors often fall short. A new gift from Len and Emily Blavatnik and the Blavatnik Family Foundation will help Mount Sinai researchers explore new treatment approaches. The Foundation’s $1 million commitment supports Leona Kim-Schluger, MD, Associate Director of the Recanati/Miller Transplantation Institute at Mount Sinai, for innovative pancreatic cancer research. Dr. Kim-Schluger is sharing the gift with Miriam Merad, MD, PhD, and Brian Brown, PhD, providing early support to investigate how the immune system might be prompted to recognize and destroy pancreatic tumors.
Moving a life sciences discovery from a laboratory toward patients takes more than promising data. Faculty teams must identify the evidence needed to advance a technology, understand where it could fit in the market, and make decisions about development, funding, and the people needed to carry the work forward. At Yale, Blavatnik Fellows work alongside faculty and Yale Ventures through that process. The one-year Blavatnik Fellowship brings life science professionals into Yale and New Haven’s entrepreneurial ecosystem. Since 2018, the Blavatnik Fellowship at Yale has welcomed 31 fellows across nine cohorts. Fellows help faculty teams assess the commercial potential of their research and turn early ideas into development plans. Yale Ventures’ current Blavatnik fellows Rena Yan, PhD; Nancy Sey, PhD; Ronak Savla, PhD; and Laura Stevens, PhD, are working across oncology, diagnostics, neurodegenerative disease, and women’s health. They shared what drew them to the fellowship and what they have learned about translating research.
The Blavatnik Family Foundation supports Mount Sinai’s work to advance organ-perfusion technology and related research designed to preserve donated organs, improve their viability, and expand access to transplantation. In this episode of Patient Innovations, hosts Rashmi Kandwal and Shannon Stauff bring together patient, clinical, and research perspectives on liver disease, organ donation, and the future of transplantation. Liver transplant recipient MacGregor Nestler reflects on his experience of serious illness, waiting for a donor organ, and rebuilding his life after transplantation. Dr. Bubu A. Banini of Yale School of Medicine and the American Liver Foundation discusses the varied causes of liver disease, the importance of early awareness, and the value of trusted support for patients and families. Dr. M. Zeeshan Akhtar of Mount Sinai’s Recanati/Miller Transplantation Institute explores advances in machine perfusion and the emerging role of artificial intelligence in evaluating donated organs. The conversation highlights how research, technology, and public awareness can help increase the availability of viable organs and improve outcomes for transplant patients.
Morag Grassie, Ph.D., Executive Director of the Blavatnik Fund for Innovation at Yale, has been named a 2026 Women of Innovation finalist by the Connecticut Technology Council. Recognized in the Academic Innovation and Leadership—Post-Secondary category, Grassie leads the Fund’s work to help translate promising Yale research into life-science innovations. She is also a co-founder of amplifyHERscience, a Yale Ventures program supporting academic founders across the university. The recognition reflects her sustained leadership in strengthening pathways from scientific discovery to real-world impact. Grassie is one of three Yale finalists, alongside Sparkle Malone and Julie Zimmerman, both recognized for their contributions to environmental research and sustainability. Award recipients will be announced at the Women of Innovation ceremony on October 27, 2026.
Harvard Business School has announced the five members of the 2026–2027 Blavatnik Fellowship in Life Science Entrepreneurship, the program’s thirteenth cohort. Russell Beckerman, Parisa Farzam, Mahmoud Mikdar, Nora Rodden, and Anna Trepekli are developing ventures spanning precision medicines for obesity, real-time brain monitoring, engineered red blood cells, digital support for chronic symptoms, and virtual pediatric obesity care. During the 12-month fellowship, they will receive mentorship, strategic guidance, and access to Harvard’s entrepreneurial and scientific resources as they advance their technologies and leadership. Since its launch in 2013, the program’s fellows have founded 50 biomedical companies working across therapeutics, cell and gene technologies, drug delivery, and digital health. Supported by the Blavatnik Family Foundation, the Fellowship helps translate promising life science discoveries into ventures that can improve patients’ lives. The new cohort continues its mission of equipping emerging life science leaders with the resources, networks, and professional development needed to move breakthrough ideas toward real-world impact.
Providing many of the world's best researchers, scientists, and universities with support, and funding to discover breakthroughs that solve humankind's greatest challenges.
The Foundation contributes to renowned institutions that showcase the breadth of arts and culture, including performance, exhibition and education.
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.
