From left: Board Chair Jessica Bibliowicz, Board Chair Emeritus and Campaign Co-Chair Sanford I. Weill, Board Vice Chair and Campaign Co-Chair Jeffrey J. Feil and Dean Augustine M.K. Choi
Building on a legacy of groundbreaking advances in medicine and science, Weill Cornell Medicine has launched an ambitious $1.5 billion campaign – with more than $750 million already raised – that will harness emerging biomedical innovations to bring exemplary care to patients and create enduring change in medicine.
Powering the We’re Changing Medicine campaign is $215 million in lead gifts from some of the institution’s most longstanding benefactors. The campaign will reimagine the foundational science landscape; invest in bench-to-bedside research discoveries, including a precision-health enterprise that focuses on personalized disease prevention and treatment; and support a diverse and gifted student body.
The announcement of the campaign launch was livestreamed on June 17 from the Belfer Research Building to the entire Weill Cornell Medicine community, including alumni, donors and friends. Hosted by Jessica M. Bibliowicz, chair of the Weill Cornell Medicine Board of Fellows, the campaign kickoff featured remarks from Martha E. Pollack, president of Cornell University; Dr. Augustine M.K. Choi, the Stephen and Suzanne Weiss Dean of Weill Cornell Medicine; Sanford I. Weill, chair emeritus of Weill Cornell Medicine‘s Board of Fellows and campaign co-chair; Jeffrey J. Feil, vice chair of the Board of Fellows and campaign co-chair; Dr. Steven J. Corwin, president and chief executive officer of NewYork-Presbyterian; and Robert S. Harrison, chair of the Cornell University Board of Trustees.
“Innovation has always been a driving force for our institution, setting new standards for clinical care, research and education that have made a lasting impact for patients around the globe,” says Chair Bibliowicz. “We are profoundly grateful to our incredible donors for sharing and supporting our health-care ideals, because philanthropy is the engine by which we can realize transformational change. Together we are changing medicine.”
“The COVID-19 pandemic has demonstrated just how important medicine is to protect and enhance the health of our patients,” says Dean Choi. “Because of our generous donors, Weill Cornell Medicine is uniquely positioned to meet today’s health-care challenges and change medicine.”
In 2019, during the campaign’s quiet phase, a lead gift from The Starr Foundation, chaired by Weill Cornell Medicine Board of Fellows member Maurice R. Greenberg, in partnership with gifts from the Weill Family Foundation – created by Joan and Sanford I. Weill – and other generous donors that together totaled $160 million, established a game-changing scholarship program that covers the total cost of attendance for medical students with financial need.
Part of The Starr Foundation-Maurice R. Greenberg Conference Center in the Belfer Research Building was transformed into a live broadcast studio for the campaign launch.
“Weill Cornell Medicine’s world-class physicians, scientists and students are making tremendous strides every day to ensure that patients around the globe receive the best medical care,” says Mr. Weill. “Leveraging our strengths and sharing our talents with the world, we’re changing medicine for the better, but there is always more work to do. By further investing in what makes us special, we can realize our new vision of health care. I am so excited about what we can – and must – accomplish together with this new campaign.”
A $55 million gift in 2020 from Jeffrey J. Feil and the Feil family will support the construction of a new student residence four blocks from the institution’s main campus, which will further enhance Weill Cornell Medicine’s student experience.
The building, with a cost of just over $260 million, is a 148,000-square-foot residence. Its expected occupancy in 2025 will nearly double the institution’s living space. It will feature spacious apartments and modern amenities that will support students’ physical, academic and emotional well-being. The Feil family is a steadfast champion of Weill Cornell Medicine’s education mission, generously establishing the Feil Family Student Center in 2016 with a $12.5 million gift, as well as providing significant support for student scholarship and many other facets of the institution’s mission. “As medical and graduate students pursue their biomedical training, it is critical to provide them with a nurturing living and learning environment,” says Mr. Feil. “We are thrilled to support this new residence hall, which will encourage a culture of innovation, collegiality and collaboration to inspire our future leaders to keep changing medicine.”
Underscoring its commitment to compassionately care for the whole patient for his or her whole life, Weill Cornell Medicine is intensifying its investments in its world-class institutes and laboratories to create new facilities and updated biomedical research space at its Belfer Research Building and main campus buildings on the east side of York Avenue. These research enhancements will empower Weill Cornell Medicine’s scientists to accelerate their efforts to create life-saving treatments and cures.
Through the new campaign, Weill Cornell Medicine will invest in novel technology and biomedical approaches that will optimize treatments for patients. By studying the human genome – and analyzing the impact of demographics, social influences and lifestyle – the institution will create a strong precision health enterprise that will evaluate the many factors that contribute to disease development. Using this information, physicians and scientists, including those based in the Meyer Cancer Center and the Englander Institute for Precision Medicine, will create personalized prevention strategies that can help avert severe disease.
The We’re Changing Medicine campaign will also enable the institution to enrich its focus on women’s health and infectious diseases, as well as diseases and disorders that affect the heart, brain and metabolic system, ensuring the translation of the latest research insights into next-generation treatments and therapies that can transform the health of patients around the world.
To learn more about the We’re Changing Medicine campaign and to see highlights from our June 17 event, visit JoinTheChange.weill.cornell.edu to watch a recap of the June 17 launch celebration event. Follow the We’re Changing Medicine campaign on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Instagram.
