📄 Extracted Text (1,300 words)
HARVARD
MEDICAL SCHOOL
Genomics and Synthetic Biology
Research Fund
Terms of Gift
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GENOMICS AND SYNTHETIC BIOLOGY RESEARCH FUND
AT HARVARD MEDICAL SCHOOL
TERMS OF GIFT
Gift
This generous gift of $2,000,000 from Leon D. Black and/or the Leon Black Family Foundation
("the Donor"), to the President and Fellows of Harvard College ("Harvard"), a Massachusetts
educational and charitable corporation, creates a current-use fund to be designated the Genomics
and Synthetic Biology Research Fund ("the Fund") at Harvard Medical School.
Use of Fund
The Fund will be under the direction of George M. Church, PhD, and used to support research at
HMS that may include analysis of personalized genomics, microbiomics, metabolomics, and other
omics; development of gene therapies; engineering cells resistant to viruses; aging reversal;
humanized animals for research and organ transplants; biosensors for optimization of chemical
manufacturing; and regulating complex biological circuits.
Pledge Payment Schedule
The Donor hereby irrevocably pledges and promises to pay $2,000,000 to Harvard Medical
School in two equal installments according to the schedule below:
No Later Than Dollar Amount
December 31, 2014 $1,000,000
September 30, 2015 $1,000,000
Administration of Fund
Harvard Medical School will have responsibility for the administration of the Fund. The
investment, administration, and distribution of the Fund shall be accomplished in accordance
with Harvard University policies governing endowment and certain other institutional funds,
which may be amended from time to time. Under current policies, a portion of the amount made
available for annual spending may be applied to defray direct and indirect facilities and
administrative costs.
2l Harvard medical school O Presidentand Fellows ofHarvard College
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Alternative Use
If George M. Church, PhD, retires or otherwise departs from Harvard University, is no longer
considered by Harvard University to be an active faculty member, or no longer directs research
at Harvard University, the Fund will continue to support research at HMS consistent with the
terms herein. lf, at some future date, in the opinion of the Dean of the Faculty of Medicine, the
Fund can no longer be expended or administered per the terms herein, it may be used for other
purposes as consistent as possible with the intention of the Donor.
Recognition
The Donor authorizes HMS and Harvard University to list the names "Leon D. Black MBA '75" and
"Leon Black Family Foundation" and the category of this support in any of their publications or
press releases.
Amendment
This agreement can only be amended by a written document agreed to and signed by the Parties.
DONOR
Leon D. Black MBA 75, individually and as President of Date:
Leon Black Family Foundation
Donor
HARVARD MEDICAL SCHOOL
Jeffrey S. Flier, MD Date:
Dean of the Faculty of Medicine
PRESIDENT AND FELLOWS OF HARVARD COLLEGE
Denise A. Gorayeb Date:
Recording Secretary
3i Harvard medical school CPresIdemandrellowsonlaneardColkge
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HARVARD
MEDICAL SCHOOL
Overview
Harvard Medical School welcomes the chance to put forward the opportunity to invest in
the lab of George Church, a world renown geneticist and one of our most accomplished and
collaborative scientists. Your gift would be fueling leading-edge investigation and making
possible extraordinary advances in biomedicine, through support of his laboratory at
Harvard Medical School.
Harvard Medical School is a powerful and subtle lens through which to formulate new
questions around, and envision new solutions to, the suffering caused by human disease.
The School is also a catalyzing force, enacting changes that will transform the way medicine
is practiced in the United States and around the world.
We are thefirst-ranked medical school in this country. We train tomorrow's top physicians—
in major hospitals, in group and private practices, in community health centers, in
resource-poor settings globally—and also prepare leaders in the academic, industrial, and
policy-making sectors so critical to improving medical practice and health outcomes. We
are home to a range of scientific and biomedical visionaries, of which George Church, PhD is
an exemplar.
We are one of the most respected biomedical research communities in the world. Our
faculty—many Nobel laureates and National Academy of Science members—are probing
the fundamental questions of human biology, unlocking the complex riddles of disease
mechanisms, and creating more effective models for therapeutic discovery and
development
We are thefulcrum at the center ofHarvard Medicine, a vibrant community ofover 10,000
faculty across our 16 outstanding teaching hospital affiliates. Our capacity to convene a
community of this quality and magnitude to form research, clinical and translational
alliances sets Harvard Medical School apart as a source for new solutions to the most
intractable disease challenges.
We are grateful for the opportunity to share our work our passion, and our vision with you
and look forward to sharing information about Dr. Church's powerful explorations with
you. We are pleased to provide you with a summary that describes Dr. Church's major
endeavors at Harvard Medical School that would benefit greatly from philanthropic
investment.
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THE CHURCH LAB
The Church lab and its close collaborators have a powerful record of developing
transformative new technologies and applications which impact a broad set of biomedical
and other sciences and industries. The technologies often result in million-fold reduction in
costs, enabling scientific exploration to advance at an exponential rate. Notably, these
accomplishments have been achieved in large measure with the flexible funding afforded
by visionary philanthropists willing to invest in high risk/high reward science.
The technologies developed by the Church lab overlap one another and synergize to enable
still newer and more effective strategies. After many years of these activities, Dr. Church's
group is in a unique position to continue this auto-catalytic innovation. Dr. Church and his
colleagues extensively use mathematical and computational modeling, including Computer-
Aided Design (CAD) to make this process rigorous, reproducible and shareable.
Recent laboratory methods that your investment will continue to fuel via this creative
process could include:
• polymerase-nanopore fusions:
• in situ sequencing
• use of olfgonucleotides synthesized on chips (for genetic alterations and non-
biological data storage)
• super-resolution microscopy
• genome editing (via MAGE, Zn fingers, CRISPR, and recombinases)
• mammalian cloning
• developmental biology of embryos and organoids in cell culture
The applications your investment would help make possible could include analysis of
personalized genomics, microbiomics, metabolomics, and other omics; development of
gene therapies; engineering cells resistant to all viruses; aging reversal; humanized animals
for research and organ transplants; biosensors for optimization of chemical manufacturing;
and regulating complex biological circuits.
The Church lab is also exploring synthetic ecosystems including mammalian digestive
systems, space biology, de-extinction, and Cas9 gene-drives for use in elimination of
malaria and other vector-borne diseases. An investment in the high risk/high reward
science that characterizes the Church laboratory has the potential to transform what is
currently science fiction into scientific fact
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A consummate collaborator who functions as the nexus of many major projects, George
Church also hopes to further explore ways of making the projects collaborative through the
HMS Genetics department HMS biomedical research community, and beyond. His group
hosts the world's most open-access datasets on human biology (via personalgenomes.org)
and works on novel communication strategies via pged.org
Your Investment Is Critical
In the U.S., the National Institutes of Health is now funding conservatively. In fact, funding
was recently denied to several of Dr. Church's well-conceived and highly collaborative
scientific projects deemed "too innovative." As myopia now permeates the governmental
funding landscape, great thinkers and innovators like George Church rely on support from
entrepreneurial spirits who understand that tremendous rewards come only through
investments in highly innovative projects. We believe that Dr. Church is the hub of a
community of Harvard Medical School geneticists and, indeed, forward thinking life
scientists worldwide, who will be the source of major breakthrough discoveries into the
genetic foundations of many diseases and conditions. With your support, Dr. Church will
continue to transform the field of genetics and exponentially speed the pace of discovery.
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ℹ️ Document Details
SHA-256
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Bates Number
EFTA02705187
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