Susan L. Solomon Center for Precision Medicine at The NYSCF Research Institute
“Building NYSCF has been the privilege of a lifetime, and I am incredibly proud of the contributions we have made to the field of stem cell research and developing new and more effective treatments and cures to improve the lives of patients.”
Susan L. Solomon – Founding CEO
Prior to 2005, the stem cell field was virtually nonexistent. Stem cells had recently been discovered as a powerful tool for understanding disease and developing new treatments, but the field lacked the funding and pipeline of talent needed to pursue the promise of this technology.
Because of this, Susan launched
The New York Stem Cell Foundation (NYSCF) with the mission of using stem cell research to accelerate treatments and cures for the major diseases of our time.
Susan L. Solomon Center for Precision Medicine
March 29, 2023, 6:00 - 8:30pm
The NYSCF Research Institute
619 W 54th Street, 3rd Floor New York, NY 10019
THE DEDICATION
OF THE
A SHORT FILM
Remembering Susan
WELCOME & INTRODUCTION
Roy Geronemus, MD
NYSCF Chairman of the Board
REMARKS
Paul Goldberger
NYSCF Board Member
Valentina Fossati, PhD
NYSCF Senior Research Investigator
Daniel Paull, PhD
NYSCF Senior Vice President, Discovery & Platform Development A CONVERSATION
The Promise of Stem Cell Research and the Future of Medicine
Derrick Rossi, PhD
NYSCF Interim CEO &
Francis S. Collins, MD, PhD
Acting Science Advisor to the President
RECEPTION & LABORATORY
TOURS
Derrick Rossi, PhD
Derrick Rossi, NYSCF Interim CEO, is a serial biotech entrepreneur and stem cell scientist. His efforts developing cutting-edge technologies and novel therapeutic strategies are at the forefront of regenerative medicine and biotechnology.
Dr. Rossi earned his BSc and MSc from University of Toronto, and his PhD from the University of Helsinki, followed by post-doctoral training at Stanford University. He was an Associate Professor at Harvard Medical School and Boston Children’s Hospital, where he led an academic team working on stem cell biology and regenerative medicine, including how aging of the stem cell compartment of hematopoietic stem cells contributes to disease pathogenesis and aging-associated hematopoietic decline. Dr. Rossi was also a principal faculty member of the Harvard Stem Cell Institute from 2008 until his retirement from Harvard.
Discoveries made in Dr. Rossi’s lab have led to the formation of several biotechnology companies. Dr. Rossi co-founded Moderna, whose COVID-19 vaccine is being deployed around the world, as well as several other biotech companies, including Intellia Therapeutics, Magenta Therapeutics, Stelexis Therapeutics, and Convelo Therapeutics. Since September 2022, he has been Interim CEO of NYSCF.
TIME magazine cited Dr. Rossi’s discovery of modifiedmRNA reprogramming as one of the top ten medical breakthroughs of 2010. TIME magazine also named Dr. Rossi as one of the “People Who Mattered” in 2010, and as one of the 100 Most Influential People in the world (TIME 100) in 2011.
SPEAKER BIOGRAPHIES
Francis S. Collins, MD, PhD
Francis S. Collins, currently serves as the Special Advisor to President Biden for Special Projects. In this role, he is leading a bold program to help eliminate Hepatitis C in the United States. Dr. Collins also maintains his longstanding position as a Senior Investigator in the intramural program of the National Human Genome Research Institute, pursuing genomics research on type 2 diabetes and a rare disorder of premature aging called progeria.
Dr. Collins previously served as the 16th Director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), appointed by President Barack Obama and confirmed by the Senate in 2009. In 2017, President Donald Trump asked Dr. Collins to continue to serve as the NIH Director. President Joe Biden did the same in 2021. For those 12 years, serving an unprecedented three administrations, Dr. Collins oversaw the work of the largest supporter of biomedical research in the world, spanning the spectrum from basic to clinical research. Dr. Collins stepped down as Director on December 19, 2021.
Dr. Collins is a physician-geneticist noted for his landmark discoveries of disease genes and his previous leadership of the international Human Genome Project, which culminated in April 2003 with the completion of a finished sequence of the human DNA instruction book. He served as director of the National Human Genome Research Institute at NIH from 1993-2008.
Dr. Collins is an elected member of both the National Academy of Medicine and the National Academy of Sciences, was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in November 2007, and received the National Medal of Science in 2009. In 2020, he was elected as a Foreign Member of the Royal Society (UK) and was also named the 50th winner of the Templeton Prize, which celebrates scientific and spiritual curiosity.
The New York Stem Cell Foundation
Stem cells offer the greatest promise we have ever known for understanding human disease and transforming human health.
Susan’s vision in starting The New York Stem Cell Foundation (NYSCF) in 2005 was to reach patients through the power of stem cell research.
With cures as the priority, NYSCF combines the depth of a highly focused research institute with the breadth of a wideranging philanthropic organization, providing leadership and vital support for innovative work that traditional funding cannot or will not support.
Photo: The NYSCF Research Institute – 3rd Floor
SUSAN L. SOLOMON’S VISION
Under Susan’s founding leadership, NYSCF has raised and invested over $400 million in stem cell research to date, and conducts cutting-edge stem cell research internationally, both at The NYSCF Research Institute in New York City, and also in collaboration with major medical institutions around the world.
Unique in the biomedical research field, as both a funder of leading stem cell scientists across the globe and also with its own state-of-the-art independent stem cell research laboratory, NYSCF plays a vital role in closing the gap that exists between basic research and improved treatments. By advancing internal and external research programs, and by pioneering innovative technology platforms that will benefit the entire research community, NYSCF catalyzes and accelerates the most promising research that will reach patients in the clinic.
Susan L. Solomon Center for Precision Medicine
In August 2022, the NYSCF Board of Directors committed to naming The NYSCF Research Institute laboratories after our extraordinary Founder & CEO, in tribute to her visionary and courageous leadership.
Susan was deeply honored by this decision, and gratified to know that her legacy would be supported and carried on by the community of stem cell champions she brought together in her lifetime.
The naming campaign for the Susan L. Solomon Center for Precision Medicine will support a critical expansion of NYSCF’s existing labs and clinical research programs that began under Susan, and which will deliver on the promise of precision medicine for the world’s patients.
HONORING HER LEGACY
Renderings: The NYSCF Research Institute – 2nd Floor Expansion
Several of NYSCF’s clinical programs are on the verge of reaching patients, including a cellular therapy to treat agerelated blindness, a clinical test that identifies – in advance – the best drugs that will be most effective for ovarian cancer patients, and a proprietary drug discovery platform that combines artificial intelligence and robotics to advance precision medicine across multiple diseases, at a scale that can reflect the diversity of our human population.
Our laboratory expansion in contiguous space on the 2nd floor of our building will provide much-needed traditional tissue culture lab space and workstations for our scientists, as well as a new home for our groundbreaking cancer drug screening lab, our revolutionary precision medicine drug discovery center, and additional clinical-grade lab spaces, where we will conduct the essential work that will directly benefit patients.
Thank you for your support in honoring the vision and legacy of our beloved Founding CEO.
Together, by pursuing innovation at the frontier of human knowledge – leadingedge ideas and technologies that empower scientists and clinicians everywhere – we are accelerating cures for our loved ones and patients around the world.
For more details on our naming campaign and ways to support NYSCF, please visit: nyscf.org/solomon-center
Cover Image:
Human astrocytes (support cells of the brain, named for their star-like structure, that help neurons connect) made at The NYSCF Research Institute.
