Jeffrey Epstein Philanthropy: Overview

Wall Street Journal, New York/ Ten years ago the Program for Evolutionary Dynamics was founded at Harvard with a $30 million dollar grant from a financier called Jeffrey Epstein. Since then, the Program, under the direction of Martin Nowak, a professor of Mathematics and Biology at Harvard, has changed the way in which evolution is studied and utilized.

The Program is the first to study the evolution of micro biology with the use of mathematics. It is also the first to develop mathematical models of how cancer cells evolve as well as various bacteria and viruses such as HIV. The creation of such models has led to key discoveries in combatting diseases of all kinds.

In 2012 for example, the Program developed the first mathematical model of how colon cancer cells become immune to inhibitor therapy. The research showed how the KRAS gene is not activated from inhibitor drugs, making cells resistant, but rather a small percentage of cancer cells with an inherently activated KRAS gene are immune from the start and evolve to predominance as other cancer cells are destroyed by the inhibitor drug. The discovery was critical because instead of applying drugs in sequence to fight resistance, using a cocktail of inhibitor drugs to capture both activated KRAS gene cells and those without, came into focus.

In 2010, the Program published a study showing that most solid tumors contain 40 to 100 genetic mutations, but on average only 5 to 15 actually drive tumor growth. The findings highlighted the importance of targeting only a minority of tumor cells for effective inhibitor treatment.

“Mathematics in evolutionary biology is an exciting new field,” Jeffrey Epstein remarked, whose foundation supports cutting edge science across the United States. “It reveals patterns that are otherwise hard to detect.”

In addition to disease analysis, the Program has advanced critical evolutionary concepts, including “natural cooperation”, quantitative analysis for the evolution of language, game theory, pre-life theory and spatial selection.

Jeffrey Epstein is the founder of the Jeffrey Epstein VI Foundation. He sits on the board for the Mind, Brain and Behavior Committee at Harvard University.

SOURCE:
www.jeffreyepstein.org
www.jeffreyepsteinscience.com



The Jeffrey Epstein VI Foundation Highlights Key Research into Late Alzheimer's.
Wall Street Journal

 NEW YORK/ Although there are genetic dispositions for Alzheimer's Disease, the late onset of Alzheimer's and by far the most common, is still a mystery. It's also expected to double by 2050. Today however, renowned New York science investor, Jeffrey Epstein, whose foundation has provided funds to the American Alzheimer's Association, has heralded new findings into the late onset disease.

The findings come from Mount Sinai Hospital in New York, the Icelandic Heart Association and Sage Bionetworks, amongst others, who have determined that a cluster of genes connected to the brain's inflammatory response mechanism, play a role in driving late onset Alzheimer's. Specifically, the research team analyzed the DNA of 376 deceased patients with late Alzheimer's along with gene expression and emanating biological pathways. What resulted was a mathematical model, a unified map of the prevailing genes present in late Alzheimer's and the pathways that they trigger.

One such gene, TYROBP, not typically connected to Alzheimer's but linked to brain inflammation, was shown to interact with TREM2, a gene recently connected to Alzheimer's.

The discovery is critical, Dr. Bin Zhang explained, a co-author of the study and Associate Professor of Genetics and Genomic Sciences at Mount Sinai. "We can now evaluate drugs that impact the TREM2-TYROBP pathway as potential therapies and design more specific compounds that target these key steps precisely, in contrast to existing anti-inflammatory drugs that may be less ideal for hitting this target."

"The use of mathematics to understand the causes of disease is an exciting new field," Jeffrey Epstein asserted. "One can detect patterns that are otherwise hidden and target therapies more precisely."

Jeffrey Epstein is not new to mathematics in medical research. In 2003, he founded the Program for Evolutionary Dynamics at Harvard University, which studies the evolution of micro-biology with the use of mathematics. The Program has also made critical discoveries into the evolution of cancer, HIV and other viruses.

Jeffrey Epstein is a former member of the New York Academy of Science and Rockefeller University. He sits on the Mind, Brain & Behavior Advisory Committee at Harvard University.

SOURCE:
www.jeffreyepsteinscience.com