Dateline DFCI
Collaboration aims to spur advances in genomic medicine
Seeking to turn genetic information into new research tools for addressing cancer and other biomedical problems, Dana-Farber and several Boston-area institutions are collaborating on a new center in genomic medicine.
Based in Cambridge, Mass., the Eli and Edythe L. Broad Institute will bring together scientists from many disciplines and institutions, among them Harvard University, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and its affiliated Whitehead Institute, and partnering hospitals such as Dana-Farber. The center will help enable large-scale projects that could not easily be undertaken by individual investigators or laboratories.
"This is a tremendously exciting opportunity for all of us at Dana-Farber to come together and use the power of the human genome [the DNA sequence of the human blueprint] to make a real difference in the fight against cancer," says DFCI's Todd Golub, MD, founding director of the Broad's cancer program. Associate faculty members of the program include Dana-Farber's Matthew Meyerson, MD, PhD, William Sellers, MD, and William Hahn, MD, PhD.
The Institute bears the name of Eli Broad, founder and chairman of the financial services company SunAmerica, and his wife, Edythe. Longtime supporters of education, science, and art, they provided a founding gift expected to total $100 million over 10 years. Some of the participating organizations will raise additional support to sustain the new venture.
