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Chan Zuckerberg Science Is a Model for Big Donors

By  Harvey V. Fineberg
September 26, 2016

Mark Zuckerberg and Priscilla Chan’s bold pledge to cure, prevent, or manage every major disease by the end of the century goes far beyond wishful thinking. Their $3 billion pledge over the next 10 years shows how much they believe in the power of investing in basic science — a strategy that warrants commitment from other donors as well.

Over time, Chan Zuckerberg Science aspires to nothing less than to transform the way science is conducted, making it less an individual sport in which each player is rewarded and recognized and more a multidisciplinary team effort in which successful collaboration is what gets the attention and more money to do research and devise problem-solving technologies.

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Mark Zuckerberg and Priscilla Chan’s bold pledge to cure, prevent, or manage every major disease by the end of the century goes far beyond wishful thinking. Their $3 billion pledge over the next 10 years shows how much they believe in the power of investing in basic science — a strategy that warrants commitment from other donors as well.

Over time, Chan Zuckerberg Science aspires to nothing less than to transform the way science is conducted, making it less an individual sport in which each player is rewarded and recognized and more a multidisciplinary team effort in which successful collaboration is what gets the attention and more money to do research and devise problem-solving technologies.

Already their effort is a model of how good philanthropy should work because they:

Gave priority to attracting top talent. Cori Bargmann, the renowned neuroscientist and geneticist who will lead Chan Zuckerberg Science, is a splendid choice as the leader.

Biohub, a collaborative, multi-disciplinary enterprise they announced last week, will be led by two other outstanding scientists, Joe DeRisi of the University of California at San Francisco and Steve Quake of Stanford University. The biohub will draw on leading faculty from Stanford, the University of California at Berkeley, and UCSF to take advantage of the best minds at all three research universities and to provide scientists and engineers with flexible laboratory space, the latest technological tools, and money for ambitious research projects.

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Among the projects they hope to undertake: a complete atlas of every cell in the human body and a novel set of approaches to subvert the presence and force of infectious diseases.

Worked globally from the start. Beyond the biohub, the overall effort will engage scientists and engineers from around the world through a set of virtual research institutes Mr. Zuckerberg and Dr. Chan call “challenge networks.” Throughout, Chan Zuckerberg Science will strive to create transformative technologies, including instruments that enable discovery and novel information-technology systems that will help scientists exchange findings and accelerate the rate of discovery.

Sought advice from experts. Before pledging any money, they worked with community leaders and scientists, some of whom were introduced to them by the Science Philanthropy Alliance, a consortium established by foundations worldwide that make grants for basic science and encourage others to do the same. Chan Zuckerberg Science has attracted a stellar group of scientific experts, including Tobias Bonhoeffer, David Haussler, Art Levinson, Bob Tjian, Shirley Tilghman, Harold Varmus, and Huda Zoghbi.

As a private philanthropic endeavor, Chan Zuckerberg Science can focus resources according to the dictates of science without needing to satisfy any politically powerful interest group. It can move resources rapidly and nimbly and attract the most creative scientific minds by liberating researchers from the need to persuade cautious government agencies and review bodies.

America surely needs more government support and resources for science to solve pressing problems. We also need patient investors, both public and private, who understand the value of basic science, indeed the necessity of basic science, if we are to have any hope of creating the technologies that can transform our lives for the better.

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Dr. Chan and Mr. Zuckerberg understand this dynamic. They believe that technology can accelerate progress, as it has helped eradicate smallpox and made AIDS a manageable condition rather than an early death sentence. Diseases will not disappear on their own. But human ingenuity, a sustained commitment to basic science, and a collaborative approach to creating effective and lasting solutions — these have a chance to succeed.

Priscilla Chan and Mark Zuckerberg are now setting the pace and showing the way. They join other scientifically minded philanthropists like Bill and Melinda Gates, Jim and Marilyn Simons, Gordon and Betty Moore, and many others who believe in the power of science and in applying resources to make a lasting, positive difference. Chan Zuckerberg Science is a landmark development in modern philanthropy and a model for others to emulate.

Harvey V. Fineberg is president of the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation and a member of the board of directors of the Science Philanthropy Alliance.

We welcome your thoughts and questions about this article. Please email the editors or submit a letter for publication.
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