Broad established as permanent research institute

The Eli and Edythe L. Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard was established today as a permanent non-profit scientific research institute, and received the first installment of the philanthropists’ pledge of their endowment gift, announced last September.

“Today, July 1, marks a historic milestone for the Broad Institute. Through the generosity of Eli and Edythe Broad, the Broad Institute has transitioned from an ‘experiment’ to a permanent research institute closely affiliated with both Harvard and MIT,” said Eric Lander, founding director of the Broad Institute. “This new status allows us to look at the future with much greater horizons, and to invest in people and projects that will make a lasting difference over a long time. It also gives us the freedom to dream even more broadly about how to understand and treat human disease.”

A photo of the Sept. 4th event announcing the Broads' endowment gift
Photo courtesy of Len Rubenstein

“Our goal in funding the Broad Institute is simple: to improve the human condition,” said Eli Broad.  “Edye and I are convinced that the hundreds of passionate scientists at the Broad Institute will identify the genes responsible for disease and will discover cures or completely eliminate diseases altogether. We believe that our investment will put the Broad Institute firmly on the path toward its mission of completely transforming medicine.”

“Broad 2.0,” as it has been affectionately termed by the Broad personnel working on the transition, is primarily an infrastructural change designed to even more completely and transparently support the Broad’s mission and collaborative scientific model.