Initiatives

As BioMed 21 moves forward, individual and organizational donors will have opportunities to participate.

The expansion of the facility and the addition of approximately 50 Ph.D., M.D., and M.D./Ph.D. students represent opportunities for donors to invest in the brightest talent and the most creative minds, bringing them to St. Louis and enabling their visions and collaborations.

Facilities also will play an important role in providing the setting for their work. The gift opportunities listed below represent ways in which interested individuals and organizations can assist with this endeavor For further information and assistance, please contact:

Pamela Buell
Associate Vice Chancellor
Washington University in St. Louis
Medical Alumni & Development Programs
Campus Box 1247
7425 Forsyth Blvd., Suite 2100
St. Louis, MO 63105-2161

Office Phone: (314) 935-9691
FAX: (314) 935-9716
E-mail: Pamela_Buell@wustl.edu

Crucial gifts provide funding for BioMed 21 iniative

Generous gifts from three of the most stalwart supporters of the university will provide funds for initiating BioMed 21 and establishing professorships to help guide the program. “These transforming gifts from the Danforth Foundation, John F. McDonnell and the Needlemans, for which we are so deeply grateful, will make it possible to recruit key faculty and stimulate creation of the interdisciplinary units that are the core of BioMed 21,” says chancellor Mark S. Wrighton.

A previous Danforth Foundation gift will provide a $30 million endowment for start-up funds to stimulate research. Of the $30 million total, $6 million has been set aside to endow eight Danforth Foundation Career Development Professorships. These professorships will be awarded to young faculty members, speeding their ability to launch collaborations, pursue projects, seek grants and establish laboratories at an early phase in their careers.

John F. McDonnell and the JSM Charitable Trust have provided $6 million to endow four professorships within the structure of BioMed 21. “Members of the McDonnell family, personally and through the JSM Charitable Trust, have been extremely supportive of Washington University for many years,” Wrighton says. “Their incredible generosity continues to play a critical role in the advancement of education and research at the university.”

John, the youngest son of honored aerospace pioneer James S. McDonnell, is the chairman of the Washington University Board of Trustees and has served on the board since 1976. The McDonnell family and the JSM Charitable Trust have a deep interest in scientific research.

A third seminal gift comes from Philip Needleman, PhD, and his wife, Sima, who have established the Philip and Sima K. Needleman Professorship to be held by a senior leader recruited or appointed to play a leadership role in the new Division of Clinical Sciences.

Joining Wrighton in announcing the gift, dean Larry Shapiro says, “We thank the Needlemans for this wonderful gift and are honored that their names will be associated with the School of Medicine in perpetuity.”

Philip Needleman chaired the school’s Department of Pharmacology from 1976 to 1989. As an adjunct professor of molecular biology and pharmacology, he maintains close ties with the university, where he was elected Basic Science Teacher of the Year five times.

Sima Needleman was a medical social worker at the former Jewish Hospital from 1976 to 1992. A member of the George Warren Brown School of Social Work, she served for 10 years on the alumni board.