The Michelson Medical Research Foundation (MMRF) is a private, non-profit philanthropy founded by orthopaedic spinal surgeon and inventor Gary K. Michelson. The foundation aims to solve global health issues by promoting the development of innovative ideas in medicine and bioscience.
The foundation was established in 2005 through a $100 million contribution made by Gary K. Michelson.
The Michelson Post-Injury Glial Scarring Initiative aims to promote the functional recovery of individuals with spinal cord injury. The initiative funds research into the control of glial scarring conducted at the Yale Center for Neuroscience and Regeneration Research.
The Ethical Medical Research Initiative (a partnership between the Michelson Medical Research Foundation and the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine) aims to end the use of animals in alcohol abuse research and the use of dogs in heart failure research across the US.
The Michelson Fund for NTDs Global Awareness aims to raise awareness of neglected tropical diseases in developing countries, and to encourage the use of available resources to combat their spread. The initiative provides funding for the NTD Special Envoy program.
The Michelson Neglected Disease Vaccine Initiative has gifted over $3 million to the Sabin Vaccine Institute Product Development Partnership to fund the development of vaccines against neglected tropical diseases.
The under construction USC Michelson Center for Convergent Bioscience has been gifted over $50 million by the Michelson Medical Research Foundation. The Center will house interdisciplinary researchers from the USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences and the USC Viterbi School of Engineering.
The University Research and Entrepreneurship Initiative aims to promote innovative research at US Universities. The initiative provides funding for the Wharton Business Plan Competition, the Business Association of Stanford Entrepreneurial Students (BASES) and the MIT $100K Entrepreneurship Competition.
Beneficiaries of the Michelson Medical Research Foundation include:
Paralyzed Veterans of America.
The Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine.
The Sabin Vaccine Institute.
University of Southern California.
Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.
