Massachusetts businessman Phillip T. Ragon announced today that he is donating $100 million to create a new research institute that will be devoted to discovering an effective AIDS vaccine. Ragon is contributing $10 million a year for 10 years to fund work that will draw together top scientists from Harvard, MIT and Mass. General.
The Boston Globe reports that the institute being set up with Ragon's money will be modeled on the Broad Institute of Cambridge, which is renowned for creating collaborations among leading scientists. The gift frees the researchers from having to scramble for federal funds, which have been tight.
"You might say back in Newton's time, you could be a solo physicist conducting research," Ragon told the Globe. "But today, you need projects where large groups of people come together to focus on advancing the state of science."
- read the report from the Boston Globe