Andrea Califano, a Columbia systems biologist, was recently tapped to lead a new multi-institutional research center, the Chan Zuckerberg Biohub New York, whose mission is to find novel ways of harnessing the immune system to help fight cancer, Alzheimer’s disease, and many other conditions.
The center, supported by Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg and his wife Priscilla Chan’s philanthropic organization, the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, will bring together teams of scientists from Columbia, Rockefeller University, and Yale. According to Califano, participating scientists will conduct basic research that could one day enable colleagues to bioengineer immune cells that monitor real-time changes in the body and diagnose and treat diseases in their earliest stages.
The New York–based biohub is one of several research institutes created in recent years by the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, with other locations in San Francisco, Chicago, and Redwood City, California. “Joining the Chan Zuckerberg Biohub Network presents a unique opportunity to assemble a remarkable dream team of scientists and technologists to pursue their most ambitious goals aimed at creating a healthier future for all of us,” says Califano.
