Chan Zuckerberg BioHub, a non-profit medical research organisation started by Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and wife Priscilla Chan, has today announced their first batch of human disease investigators. A cohort of 47 research engineers, scientists, and technologists have been picked after a thorough evaluation of over 700 applications.
But, first things first, the said organisation is not to be confused with Chan Zuckerberg Initiative. Though it bears a resemblance in name to said organisation, which is limited liability fund working to advance human potential, they are working in completely different domains.
CZ Biohub, on the other hand, is working with the faculty of the University of California, Berkeley; Stanford University and the University of California to conduct life science research. The BioHub includes highly accomplished senior professors and young up-and-coming faculty to ensure the rapid dissemination of its research results. Their motive has been described as under:
CZ Biohub scientists and engineers will apply the most advanced technologies to support the global fight against infectious diseases. The CZ Biohub’s work will be clustered around four key areas: new detection technologies, new treatments, new ways to prevent infection, and new approaches to rapid response when new threats emerge.
But the highlight of Chan Zuckerberg BioHub is their investigation focused initiative, which enables the researchers to openly collaborate on projects. They can work on anything ranging from organ printing techniques or cell reproduction to “solve the world’s biggest health problems.”
Speaking about this initiative, Joseph DeRisi, co-president of CZ Biohub and professor of biochemistry and biophysics at UC San Francisco says,
To realize this vision, we are giving some of the world’s most creative and brilliant researchers access to groundbreaking technology and the freedom to pursue high-risk research. CZ Biohub Investigators will challenge traditional thinking in pursuit of radical discoveries that will make even the most stubborn and deadly diseases treatable.
To protect against disease outbreaks, the organisation has recently selected a group of forty-seven investigators from the aforementioned universities. The investigators have been selected from a variety of different academic departments including biology, chemistry, physics, computer science, engineering, and mathematics. And each of them will receive grants of up to $1.5 million over the span of five years.
The investigators will be required to meet periodically at the Biohub building, which is a rented space at San Francisco’s Mission Bay district. The organisation is also providing them with the opportunity to use its labs for activities that require a lot of space. Talking about the same, Stephen Quake, co-president of CZ Biohub and professor of bioengineering and applied physics at Stanford says,
The 47 CZ Biohub Investigators we’re introducing today are quite literally inventing the future of life science research. The CZ Biohub is distinguished by our emphasis on technology and engineering, and our researchers are inventing tools to accelerate science for the good of humanity.
Additionally, Chan Zuckerberg BioHub is an ultimate add-on to Facebook’s efforts and focus on community. They’re currently also working on large-scale collaborative projects — Disease Initiative and the Cell Atlas. The former is being pursued to prevent the spread of infectious diseases — Zika virus, SARS, dengue and others using technological developments. The latter, on the other hand, is focused towards global collaborations to map cell types of the human body and make them available to researchers worldwide.
