Molecular Immunology Foundation

CONTACT:

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617-522-7603

Karen B. Maloney, Executive Director

DESCRIPTION:

One of the great virtues of philanthropy — “private initiatives for public good, focusing on quality of life” — is its openness and hospitality to innovation, in virtually any field. Government and corporate funding structures tend to be risk-averse, and thus conventional—even in science. The Molecular Immunology Foundation was created in 1999 to accelerate the discovery and development of a new class of preventive and therapeutic vaccines, utilizing unused cells from the thymus gland to prevent major diseases — e.g., breast cancer, leukemia, AIDS, hepatitis, tuberculosis and smallpox. A world-class, multidisciplinary and multi-institutional scientific team is coordinated by founder Ellis L. Reinherz, Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School and Chief of the Laboratory of Immunobiology at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. In five years MIF has funded many experiments, filed three patent applications and published more than 20 scientific papers. Its databases are available on its website to health agencies, companies and the public. The value of creating an independent charity to raise funds for this work is that it broadens the range of potential patrons, and simplifies fundraising procedures. Scientific revolutions have often been promoted by individual patrons and new institutions. If you would like to be a patron of pioneering science, here is your opportunity.

(2004: HUMAN SERVICES: Health and Aging: Medical Research)