Robert Kraft donates $20 million to Harvard Business School
Patriots owner Robert Kraft stopped by Harvard Wednesday to announce a $20 million endowment to Harvard Business School (HBS) that will fund research to develop specialized treatments for “serious diseases,’’ according to a press release from HBS.
The funds, which came from the Robert and Myra Kraft Family Foundation, will establish the Kraft Endowment for Advancing Precision Medicine, and will focus on “research and other activities that advance the field of precision medicine,’’ the release stated. Precision medicine uses genome information to peg the “biological mechanisms’’ of a disease, allowing for a precise diagnosis and individualized treatments, according to the release.
HBS will use the endowment to collaborate with precision medicine pioneers in Boston, working to bring both medical and business professionals together and commercialize the treatments.
Kraft — who is the sixth richest owner in the NFL and valued at $4.8 billion — pledged the donation at Harvard Medical School Wednesday during the Partners Precision Medicine Conference.
The gift has a personal connection for Kraft, whose wife Myra died of ovarian cancer in 2011. During her treatment, the Kraft family began to understand and support precision medicine, according to the release.
“At heart, many of the challenges facing the advancement of precision medicine today are business challenges,’’ HBS Dean Nitin Nohria said in the release. “The endowment is a wonderful and fitting tribute to Myra Kraft, who throughout her life devoted herself to helping others.’’
Read the full HBS release here.
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