Disease Research

Partners HealthCare and our affiliated institutions serves as a beacon for philanthropy that strives to treat disease. This philanthropy is funding transformative medical research, and the development of integrated diagnosis, and treatment of life-threatening diseases.

Among the research grants from major donors such as the Wellcome Trust, Reynolds Foundation, Michael J. Fox Foundation, Fidelity Foundation, Doris Duke Foundation, Phillip T. and Susan M. Ragon Institute Foundation, and Marks Foundation, along with Partners’ own financial commitment and support, funding is going toward:

• Leading cardiac programs backed by the largest cardiovascular research effort in the United States. Patients benefit from exploring new models of organizing cardiovascular services, input on program design and development, sharing of clinical protocols, and international visiting physician programs at BWH and MGH.
• The challenges of cancer research and cancer care. Patients benefit from participating in multi-disciplinary case conferences, sharing clinical protocols, taking part in preceptorships in requested disease programs, and assistance with introducing new techniques and technologies. Genetic research is also contributing new tests that improve diagnostic specificity and enable earlier and more targeted applications of effective treatments.
• Lurie Family Autism Center, a model multidisciplinary center providing diagnosis, research and treatment for autism spectrum disorders. The Nancy Lurie Marks Family Foundation and Massachusetts General Hospital share a passionate commitment to developing a world-class multidisciplinary center in autism dedicated to comprehensive clinical care, cutting-edge research, advocacy, and public policy analysis, as well as providing training for a new generation of clinicians and researchers – all focused on meeting the needs of autistic individuals from early childhood through adulthood.
• Ragon Institute of MGH, MIT and Harvard. Formed to find new ways of preventing and curing human disease through harnessing the power of the immune system, the Ragon Institute brings scientists and clinicians together with engineers using the latest technologies in an interdisciplinary effort to better understand how the body fights infections. That understanding will ultimately be applied against a wide range of infectious diseases and cancers, with an initial focus on the need for an effective vaccine against AIDS.
• Neurological research from brain trauma research and to degenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, and multiple sclerosis.
• Mental illness research on topics such as bipolar disorder, autism, and eating disorders
• Addressing post-traumatic stress disorder through the Home Base Program, a partnership between the Red Sox Foundation and Massachusetts General Hospital.
• Advancing rehabilitation treatment of aging, stroke, spinal cord injury, and post-traumatic stress through research at Spaulding Rehabilitation Network.