Harvard Medical School (HMS) is accelerating the pace of therapeutic discovery and supporting initiatives aimed at solving some of humanity’s most acute biomedical challenges thanks to the landmark $200 million commitment from Len Blavatnik and the Blavatnik Family Foundation. This historical gift supported the creation of the Blavatnik Harvard Life Lab Longwood, the Therapeutics Initiative, the Center for Computational Biomedicine, IT infrastructure, core technologies, and aging research. Further, it propels HMS’s mission to transform health through curiosity-driven research that stimulates the development of new therapies and tools to diagnose and prevent disease.
 |
The HMS Therapeutics Initiative advances therapeutics research, accelerates the translation of discoveries toward important medicines, and trains the inventors of these future medicines. Key Update: From January 2020 through September 2023, the HMS Therapeutics Initiative supported 87 projects within the HMS community with 78 different lead PIs. These projects ranged from early translation to IND-enabling work (studies conducted to assess potential toxicity risks before human studies) across numerous clinical indications. They encompassed HMS, virtually all its affiliated hospitals, and collaborations with industry. |
 |
One year into its operation, the Blavatnik Harvard Life Lab Longwood is home to 7 ventures with 24 residents. All ventures have a therapeutics focus, and resident companies range from pre-seed to Series A funded and collectively have raised ~$45M and created 21 new jobs. The Blavatnik Harvard Life Lab reached 60% occupancy as of October 2023. Key Update: The Life Lab One Year Celebration drew over 80 participants, including members of the HMS community and partners from major biopharmaceutical companies, the venture community, consultants, and service providers. These events elevated the visibility and profile of the Harvard Life Lab and fostered connections and collaborations in the Harvard innovation ecosystem and beyond. |
 |
The Blavatnik Therapeutics Challenge Awards accelerates the development of therapeutics within HMS and its affiliated hospitals, aiming to achieve licensable intellectual property and potentially create new companies within a two-year timeframe. Key Update: In its fourth year, the 2023 Blavatnik Therapeutics Challenge Awards grants have been awarded to projects focusing on innovative treatments for multiple myeloma, non-small cell lung cancer, cartilage repair, anemia, and enhancing CAR T cell therapy effectiveness. |
Program Highlights
- The Center for Computational Biomedicine (CCB) transforms health care by merging data-driven insights with an interdisciplinary community across Harvard University focused on policy, business, and entrepreneurship. The CCB team is also enhancing research through advanced data management technologies and a centralized AI-powered data repository, accelerating the development of innovative health therapeutics.
- HMS is leveraging the Blavatnik gift-funded information technology investments to advance the Blavatnik Institute at HMS’s research, focusing on data science, analytics, and secure computing. The gift has enabled HMS to lead national-level research, including major NIH programs in heart, lung, and blood research, health equity, and undiagnosed diseases, in addition to providing key infrastructure for a national long-COVID study.
- The Blavatnik Fund for Cryo-EM enables the acquisition of advanced technology and fosters entrepreneurship to transform human health and well-being. A significant impact of this fund has been the substantial upgrade of the Harvard Cryo-EM Center for Structural Biology’s electron microscopes and the introduction of cryogenic electron tomography (cryo-ET), keeping HMS at the forefront of a rapidly evolving scientific field.
- The HMS HealthTech Fellowship Program, a 10-month cross-disciplinary initiative spanning several Harvard Schools and HMS-affiliated hospitals, trains the next generation of health care innovators in technology, engineering, business, and science to elevate medical care standards. Eight invention disclosures have been submitted to Harvard, and fellows gained acceptance into five accelerator programs. Further, 16 fellows graduated from the program between 2021 and 2023.
- The Blavatnik Fund in Longevity and Human Health critically supports research in men’s health. The fund supports Dr. Abraham Morgentaler’s educational and research activities, which continued to have a widespread impact in 2023. Notably, Dr. Morgentaler created an educational website focused on testosterone deficiency and its treatment. The website aims to provide clinicians and the public with reliable information based on Dr. Morgentaler’s and others’ research. The website is informed by Dr. Morgentaler’s pioneering clinical experience over approximately 35 years.
- The Blavatnik Fund for Sensory Disorders Research supports diverse research, including rapid recovery in cortical blindness, correcting hereditary deafness, treating hidden hearing loss, enhancing drug impact assessment in pain disorders, and developing new neuropathic pain therapies.
Featured Stewardship Report
Blavatnik Institute at HMS - 2023 Stewardship Report for Blavatnik Family Foundation
Blavatnik Institute at Harvard Medical School
In recognition of this commitment, HMS named the Blavatnik Institute—an umbrella research institute that encompasses the School’s 11 basic and social science departments. Led by HMS Dean George Q. Daley, the Blavatnik Institute is home to world-class faculty working to solve the most significant problems of human health through fundamental and translational biomedical science research.