Inspiring a new wave of support for translational science

“With this new commitment from Phill and Liz and the donors they inspired, we were able to act quickly and decisively at a moment when federal funding constraints might otherwise have stalled or sidelined some truly promising work,” says HMS Dean George Q. Daley, AB ’82, MD ’91, PhD.

The latest round of awards has initiated 10 projects across the HMS Quadrangle, spanning neurological and neurodegenerative disease, cancer and immunotherapy, inflammatory and vascular conditions, cutting‑edge immunology, and new frontiers in chemical and systems biology. Just as important, this support has kept vulnerable postdoctoral fellows employed and fully engaged in their labs.

Mark Namchuk, PhD, the Puja and Samir Kaul Professor of the Practice of Biomedical Innovation and Translation and the executive director of therapeutics translation at HMS, says philanthropy for Q-FASTR has helped build a truly catalytic engine for translational research at the School. “This recent round of giving filled an immediate gap and reinforced a culture at HMS that values translational boldness and impact. We are deeply grateful.”

See how Q‑FASTR helped advance an HMS biotech spinout 

Phill and Liz hoped their renewed commitment would draw people’s attention to Q-FASTR as an HMS fundraising priority, encouraging others to help protect the School’s translational infrastructure. “There’s a real danger that the infrastructure we’ve built could suffer because of government funding challenges,” Phill says. “By pairing high-potential science with seasoned guidance, this program accelerates innovation and gives the most promising ideas a real chance to become therapeutic interventions.”

That vision resonates with Robert I. Tepper, MD ’81, who recently pledged $1 million to Q-FASTR.

“Training postdoctoral fellows in leading laboratories across the Harvard Medical School community is the lifeblood of future biomedical innovation,” Tepper says. “I felt that backing this imperative was particularly important during a time when federal funding dollars were being withdrawn.”

Q-FASTR’s mission—supporting risky, early-stage biomedical research with commercial potential that is too nascent for traditional funding sources—also struck a chord with Tepper.

“There are many great examples of transformative medical treatments that stemmed from risky, early-stage fundamental biomedical research,” Tepper notes. “The hit rate may be low, but when successful, dramatic advances in medicine can result.” He cites gene therapies, cell therapies, and nucleic acid therapeutics as just a few cases in point. “If we are unwilling to take risks, we will forgo the opportunity to make major transformations in health care.”

Also among the donors motivated by Gross’s example to give significantly to Q-FASTR are HMS Board of Fellows member Vasant K. Narasimhan, MD ’03, MPP ’03, and his wife, Srishti K. Gupta Narasimhan, AB ’97, AM ’97, MD ’03, MPP ’03; Jeffrey A. Leerink, vice chair of the HMS Board of Fellows; and two anonymous donors.

“Together, these commitments provided urgently needed resources for research projects with translational promise and for the postdocs who drive them,” Daley says. “They’ve also helped solidify Q-FASTR as a powerful driver of discovery across the HMS Quadrangle.”

One new project, led by Michael Greenberg, PhD, the Nathan Marsh Pusey Professor of Neurobiology at HMS, and Joshua Tycko, PhD, a postdoctoral fellow in Greenberg’s lab, aims to translate a discovery platform directly into a potential treatment for Alzheimer’s disease. The Greenberg Lab is focusing on a brain protein called VGF, which it identified using an innovative screening method that can rapidly test many potential drug candidates. 
 
“Backing from Q-FASTR lets us take a bold idea and move it into a space where we can really test its therapeutic potential,” Greenberg says. “Having the resources and guidance to push an entirely new class of candidates forward is incredibly exciting. It’s exactly the kind of risk that can change how we understand and treat brain disease.”

Namchuk concurs: “This is a broad and ambitious set of projects, unified by a willingness to tackle hard problems and take risks. The support doesn’t just underwrite experiments—it safeguards the next generation of biomedical innovators and reinforces the idea that bold translational work is central to the School’s mission.”

Tepper, who is celebrating his 45th Reunion in 2026, says this dedication to discovery and translation is why he chooses to invest in his alma mater.

“I hope my support and the contributions of others will allow HMS to continue to demonstrate the importance of fundamental biomedical research for the advancement of medicine,” he says.

Looking ahead, Phill Gross is eager to see more donors join the effort. “For those who care about scientific innovation, this is a chance to be part of the ride from discovery toward potential therapeutic impact.”