Over $340 million raised for research and education
Cold Spring Harbor, NY — Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL) President Bruce Stillman, Ph.D., announced today that CSHL has surpassed its original goal and raised $340 million during the most ambitious fundraising campaign in the Laboratory’s 119-year history. CSHL launched the campaign in 2005 with the objective of raising $200 million to build new laboratory facilities and fund new research and education programs.
“Thanks to strong support from some of the nation’s most prominent philanthropists, we are able to fund new research facilities, new investigators, and innovative technologies that will enable CSHL to develop novel approaches to treating cancer and understanding the genetic causes of diseases, such as autism, schizophrenia and depression,” said Dr. Stillman.
Eduardo Mestre, chairman of the CSHL Board of Trustees, added, “When we started this campaign, some questioned the ability of an institution of CSHL’s size to raise $200 million. We proved that notion wrong. Based on the strength of our science and the vision and skill of our president, Bruce Stillman, and chancellor emeritus, James D. Watson, the campaign surpassed all expectations.”
Significant gifts and grants
- Over $50 million from The Simons Foundation to support genetics and neurodevelopmental research on autism and to help establish a new Center for Quantitative Biology (CQB). At the CQB, an interdisciplinary team of top mathematicians, physicists, and computer scientists will develop mathematical approaches to interpret and understand complex biological data sets.
- $30 million from Vada and Ted Stanley for research on the genetics of bipolar disorder and to establish The Stanley Institute for Cognitive Genomics, focusing on the genetic causes of depression and schizophrenia.
- $25 million from The Starr Foundation to endow research at the CSHL Cancer Center, the Watson School of Biological Sciences, and the Center for Quantitative Biology.
- Over $28 million from the State of New York through its “Gen*NY*sis” program and other state agencies to support the construction of new research facilities and equipment for research.
- $15 million from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute to expand CSHL’s Course Program, which trains scientists from around the world in the latest techniques in their fields of research.
- Over $14 million from Kathryn W. Davis and the Kathryn W. Davis Foundation to establish The Kathryn W. Davis RNAi Research Center, supporting research in RNA interference (RNAi) and the establishment of the Davis Family Distinguished Professorship in Human Genetics.
- Six $10 million commitments for the Hillside Laboratories—six new research buildings named for the donors: Donald Everett Axinn, the DeMatteis Family Foundation, David H. Koch, the Quick Family, Henry and Holly Wendt, the Quick Family, and an anonymous donor. The six new buildings were dedicated on June 12, 2009. The research complex also includes the Laurie and Leo Guthart Discovery Tower.
- $5 million from The Don Monti Memorial Research Foundation to establish The Joseph and Tita Monti Research Center, which will focus on leukemia and lymphoma research.
- Educational endowment for new graduate fellowships in the Watson School of Biological Sciences, which celebrates its 10-year anniversary this year.
- A founding endowment for the DNA Learning Center, which brings hands-on genetics education to students and teachers on Long Island, across the country, and around the world.
- Funding for the expansion of the historic Carnegie Building, home of the CSHL Library & Archives and The Genentech Center for the History of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology at CSHL.
- Endowment and seed investment funds to support the recruitment and start-up of laboratories for new research investigators at CSHL.
Future CSHL fundraising efforts will focus on endowed chairs as a means to secure more reliable streams of funding for investigators who must compete for increasingly scarce federal and private research grants.
The Laboratory is ranked first worldwide for research impact in molecular biology and genetics for the decade 1997-2007 by Thomson Reuters’ Essential Science Indicators™. In 2009, CSHL received its eighth consecutive 4-star rating from Charity Navigator for fiscal responsibility. Only 1% of charities reviewed by Charity Navigator have achieved this top rating annually for the last eight years.
Written by: Dagnia Zeidlickis, Vice President, Communications | zeidlick@cshl.edu | 516-367-8455