Tr uth Pat hs T0 war d Savi ng Li ve s
The mission of Rgenix is to generate safe, effective and commercially viable therapies that will transform the lives of cancer patients by treating metastasis.
those who had exhausted all that mainstream medicine could offer. “ALKA is an acronym for the names of people I knew struggling with health conditions,” said Darst. Eventually, the project wound down and two of its
frequent tennis matches and long runs together. (Ever driven, Darst’s idea of relaxing involves some pretty grueling activities — he just completed the NYC Aquaphor Olympic distance triathlon in 2 hours and 38 minutes.) When they aren’t exercising, the
namesakes died. Even so, the
couple frequently makes time to
experience of co-founding and
get back to Greenwich. Here, they
developing ALKA opened up
spend time with Darst’s father,
the young Darst’s eyes to the
David Sr., and sister, Elizabeth (GA
possibility that he could be
’96) who has settled in town with
entrepreneurial and altruistic
her young family.
at the same time. These days, Darst is newly wed. He married
Pointing to former Brunswick AP biology teacher Norman Forbes as a pivotal
Elizabeth Proctor on September 15, 2012, at the
figure in his high school education, Darst has
First Presbyterian Church of Myrtle Beach.
generously gifted Rgenix shares to Brunswick’s
The couple met in 2008 in the elevator of their apartment building, where both lived after
“Above All Else” Capital Campaign. “I am focusing the gift on some of the current
moving to New York City. Darst did his best to
science programs, to bring in new technologies
leave an impression, but didn’t see his future
that will help enable students to evaluate what
bride again for three years, when he noticed her
genes are important in driving disease,” he said.
at the gym.
“Assuming the shares are worth something
A few weeks later, Darst invited Proctor,
Not-for-Profits and Other Ventures
someday, the funds they provide might be very
a Division I athlete in college and marathon
helpful, not just for people of a traditional
runner, to play tennis. They were inseparable
science background, but also for people like me,
shortly thereafter. Today, they still enjoy
who follow another path to science.”
B
Along with a professor and four Harvard classmates, Darst co-founded Medicine in Need while still an undergraduate. A nonprofit that develops inhaled tuberculosis therapies, Medicine in Need was selected as a Technology Pioneer by the World Economic Forum and has raised more than $10 million from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. After graduation, Darst partnered with fellow Harvard alumni Eduardo Saverin, Ben Williams and A.J. Solimine to launch Firefly Health, a social networking site for people with rare diseases and other chronic health problems. Saverin, a co-founder of Facebook, eventually took over the venture, which later evolved into CarePlace.com. Another nonprofit, AttackAIDS, was dedicated to improving the delivery of lowcost HIV therapies in the developing world. Upon enrolling in Harvard Business School in the fall of 2005, Darst and his partners channeled the AttackAIDS funds they had raised to an HIV organization to India. B
www. br u nsw i cksc h oo l . org
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