Nearly two months after across-the-board cuts in federal spending took effect, university researchers are beginning to feel the squeeze in their budgets. But researchers at Harvard University can breathe a little easier, as an alumnus on Monday announced a $50-million donation to the university that will support basic biomedical research and student entrepreneurship.
The gift comes from the Blavatnik Family Foundation, headed by the businessman Len Blavatnik, and will support grants across the university, through the Blavatnik Biomedical Accelerator.
Despite its large endowment and donor base, Harvard has also felt the economic pressures of the federal budget cuts, known as the sequester. Just last week, Harvard Medical School announced its primate-research center will be largely shut down by 2015 for financial reasons.
Support from Mr. Blavatnik’s new fund will help speed up basic scientific discoveries, by identifying early-stage, highly promising technologies and preparing them for further development.
Isaac T. Kohlberg, Harvard’s chief technology development officer, said in a written statement that the accelerator would expedite the flow of Harvard inventions into the marketplace.
“Some of the most important therapies and technologies in existence today originated from alliances between academia and the life-sciences industry, and we look forward to many more in the years ahead,” Mr. Kohlberg said.
The gift will also create a fellowship at Harvard Business School to support life-science entrepreneurship among students by allowing them to work on projects supported by the accelerator.
By increasing collaboration between Harvard’s business and science communities, Mr. Blavatnik said, “we will empower the next generation of life-science entrepreneurs and provide a further catalyst for innovation and research development.”