Gift Enables Transformative Advances in Health Care

The Heritage Medical Research Institute (HMRI), a nonprofit founded by physician and Caltech trustee Richard Merkin, has extended its partnership with Caltech for a minimum of three more years. This renewed support will strengthen Caltech's ability to pioneer scientific and technological advancements in the life sciences so that patients living with debilitating conditions can live longer, healthier lives.

HMRI's initial gift in 2015 enabled the creation of the Heritage Research Institute for the Advancement of Medicine and Science at Caltech. The program provides nine Caltech scientists and engineers—known as Heritage Medical Research Institute Investigators—with salary support and no-strings-attached research funds that free them to pursue high-risk/high-reward projects.

"It was important for HMRI and myself to ensure that basic science wouldn't be confined to the lab—we wanted to see action and impact," says Merkin, who has served on the Caltech Board of Trustees since 2007. "It's been exciting to witness the advancements HMRI investigators have already made and to witness their drive, focus, and determination."

Read more on the Break Through campaign website.