Weill Cornell Medicine’s future Center for Medical Innovation at 1334 York Avenue
Weill Cornell Medicine is entering its next era of growth on the strength of We’re Changing Medicine, the largest fundraising campaign in its history. The campaign raised over $1.67 billion from more than 25,000 donors across the institution’s community.
Publicly launched in 2021 as part of Cornell University’s To Do the Greatest Good campaign, We’re Changing Medicine surpassed its ambitious $1.5 billion goal a year early. It was the first campaign in recent memory to support all three parts of the institution’s mission: patient care, research and education. Gifts at every level, from transformational commitments to record alumni support, strengthened the institution and laid the cornerstone of philanthropic support for a promising future.
“The We’re Changing Medicine campaign has positioned us to lead in the next era of academic medicine,” says Dr. Robert A. Harrington, the Stephen and Suzanne Weiss Dean of Weill Cornell Medicine. “We are profoundly grateful to the donors whose generosity makes possible a bold new vision, one that will transform our institution and advance health across the lifespan.”
Students celebrate the announcement of Weill Cornell Medicine's debt-free medical education scholarship program
Priorities for the years ahead include expanding access to exceptional patient care and clinical research, accelerating discovery in fields such as artificial intelligence and data science, and investing in new space for medical and graduate education. Philanthropy will catalyze Weill Cornell Medicine’s achievement of these goals.
“On behalf of the Board of Fellows, I extend our deepest gratitude to every donor, volunteer and member of our community who made this campaign a success,” says Jessica Bibliowicz, chair of the Weill Cornell Medicine Board of Fellows. “Their generosity has strengthened every part of our mission, and their partnership will be essential as we pursue the extraordinary opportunities ahead.”
Expanding Exceptional Patient Care and Clinical Research
Campaign gifts supported the Midtown Clinical Care Center at 575 Lexington Avenue, which is at the heart of a strategic expansion of clinical services, and philanthropy continues to strengthen this effort. Phased openings began in April 2026, with services including women’s health, psychiatry, advanced imaging and other specialties, and with clinical research integrated into patient care.
Weill Cornell Medicine’s Midtown Clinical Care Center at 575 Lexington Avenue
The campaign also laid the philanthropic foundation for the Center for Medical Innovation at 1334 York Avenue, the former world headquarters of Sotheby’s – an extraordinary new facility designed to expand access to Weill Cornell Medicine’s world-class physicians, patient-centered multidisciplinary care and seamlessly integrated clinical research. The planned Center will house clinical services and clinical trials, placing scientists alongside physicians and patients to speed discoveries from the laboratory to the bedside, and will include the institution’s largest addition of academic teaching space in nearly two decades. The Center’s first phase is scheduled to open in 2029, and securing philanthropic investments for it will be a defining priority in the years ahead.
Planned clinical initiatives, many of which will converge at the Center, include programs in cardiometabolic health, reproductive medicine and cognitive and functional restoration as well as a dedicated aortic center.
Women’s health continues to be a key focus of the institution’s growth. The campaign sparked a significant investment in Weill Cornell Medicine’s clinical and research programs in women’s health – a cornerstone of the Midtown facility and integral to the Center for Medical Innovation – as well as the creation of a dedicated philanthropic leadership group, the Women’s Health Council.
Investing in Student Living and Learning
Weill Cornell Medicine launched its debt-free medical education scholarship program in 2019 – a central campaign goal – with a lead gift from The Starr Foundation, directed by Board Fellow Maurice R. Greenberg, in partnership with gifts from Joan and Sanford I. Weill, chair emeritus of the Board of Fellows, and the Weill Family Foundation, as well as a major gift from Christina Seix and Robert S. Dow.
Donors contributed more than $200 million, including nearly 200 gifts of $50,000 or more, to endowed scholarships. The program reduces education-related debt for all qualifying students, helping them chart a career based on their passions rather than financial pressure. Since 2020, the number of graduates leaving Weill Cornell Medicine with medical school debt has fallen by more than a quarter, and in 2025 more than half graduated without medical school debt.
Feil Family and Weill Family Student Residence
The Feil Family and Weill Family Student Residence, which opened in August 2025 at East 74th Street and York Avenue, exemplifies the campaign’s efforts to transform the student experience. The 173,000-square-foot, 16-story building offers dedicated living and learning space and was made possible by lead gifts from Board of Fellows vice chair Jeffrey J. Feil and the Feil family and from Joan and Sanford I. Weill and the Weill Family Foundation, along with nearly 80 other donors.
Alumni were central to these efforts: nearly 1,500 alumni contributed more than $46 million to the campaign—far exceeding their original goal. The campaign also inspired alumni of the Weill Cornell Graduate School of Medical Sciences to engage with and support the institution in greater numbers.
“Our alumni understand firsthand what a Weill Cornell Medicine education makes possible, and during this campaign they gave back with extraordinary generosity,” says Dr. Edwin P. Su ’97, a member of the Board of Fellows, president of the Weill Cornell Medical College Alumni Association and chair of its Fundraising Committee.
Advancing Discovery and Academic Leadership
A number of significant campaign gifts supported key priorities for Weill Cornell Medicine, including:
- $50 million from the Weill Family Foundation, led by Joan and Sanford I. Weill, established Weill Cancer Hub East, a collaboration among Weill Cornell Medicine’s Meyer Cancer Center, Princeton University, The Rockefeller University and the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research that studies how diet, metabolism and gut microbes affect cancer immunotherapy.
- $20 million from Andrew H. and Ann R. Tisch to both Weill Cornell Medicine and Cornell Tech endowed professorships at both institutions, including the Andrew H. and Ann R. Tisch Professorship of Systems and Computational Biomedicine, held by the inaugural chair of the new department of the same name.
- A generous, multidisciplinary gift named the Israel Englander Departments of Dermatology and Ophthalmology, advancing research and precision medicine in both fields.
- A $10 million gift from the Friedman Family Foundation created the Friedman Center for Nutrition, bringing its research on diet and inflammation to patient care and women’s health.
- The Hartman Institute for Therapeutic Organ Regeneration, established with a $10 million gift, pursues organoid-based and regenerative approaches to disease treatment.
- Thanks to generous campaign donors, Weill Cornell Medicine established 25 endowed professorships, 18 endowed clinical or research scholar awards and five deanships or directorships.
- More than 100 donors made planned gift commitments, including bequests and charitable gift annuities, totaling more than $200 million. These future gifts will support scholarships, research, professorships and other needs across the institution’s mission.
From left: Board of Fellows Chair Emeritus Sanford Weill, Board Vice Chair Jeffrey Feil, Board Chair Jessica Bibliowicz and Dean Robert A. Harrington
Philanthropy Is the Catalyst
Dean Harrington credits Jessica Bibliowicz, campaign co-chairs Sanford I. Weill and Jeffrey J. Feil, as well as the Campaign Executive Committee, for the campaign’s success – and for laying the groundwork for the future of Weill Cornell Medicine.
“Sandy and Jeffrey set an extraordinary example through their own generosity and their leadership in inspiring others to support our mission,” he says. “On behalf of our entire community, I thank them, Jessica, our Board of Fellows, our faculty – whose work inspires so many of our supporters – and every donor who believed in what we could accomplish together. Their dedication allows us to truly change medicine.”
Looking ahead, Ms. Bibliowicz cites the vital role that donors play in advancing Weill Cornell Medicine’s most critical priorities. “Philanthropic partnerships have always been tightly woven into the fabric of this community, and the success of our campaign underscores how impactful they are,” she says. “Together with our donors we will build on this momentum and bring a new era to life.”
