NEW YORK (GenomeWeb News) – Eli and Edythe Broad today announced an investment of $100 million into the Broad Institute to further research into biomedical discoveries made at the institute since its inception nearly a decade ago.
Today's investment is the fourth made by the couple and brings the total amount of their contributions to $700 million. An initial investment of $100 million in 2004 launched the institute, followed by another $100 million the following year. In 2008, they pledged another $400 million to endow and establish Broad as an independent non-profit scientific research institute.
Since the institute's founding, its researchers have conducted work into human biology that includes the development and application of genomic methods leading to the discovery of genes involved in major human diseases, such as type 2 diabetes, early onset heart disease, autism, schizophrenia, inflammatory bowel disease, rheumatoid arthritis, malaria, tuberculosis, and various cancers.
During the next decade, Broad researchers plan on building on that knowledge to develop therapeutic roadmaps for human diseases.
"Their new gift will help us to use our discoveries to transform how we attack devastating disease and improve patients' lives," Eric Lander, founding director of the Broad Institute, said in a statement.
"When we made our first investment to create the Broad Institute, we shared Eric Lander’s vision that discoveries in biomedical research held the key to beating devastating disease and improving people’s lives," Eli Broad said. "As the Broad Institute nears its tenth anniversary, it has already made transformative discoveries, building on the successes of the Human Genome Project. Our latest investment is intended to catalyze the next decade of innovation and discovery."