A. Alfred Taubman The A. Alfred Taubman Medical Research Institute was created to support fundamental research that advances the understanding of the causes, treatment and prevention of a broad range of human diseases. The Institute was made possible by a $22 million gift from retail pioneer A. Alfred Taubman. The gift supports U-M research in multiple ways, including establishing an endowment whose earnings will fund the research of individual Taubman Scholars for generations to come.
Taubman Scholars
Taubman Scholars each receive a three-year grant that will provide $200,000 per year for his or her laboratory team to use in their pursuit of new knowledge. Scholars also serve as advocates for research by taking part in U-M efforts to educate the public about the importance of biomedical research, and of public and private support for such research. At the end of three years, the scholars’ grants may be renewed, and new Taubman Scholars will be chosen from among the U-M Medical School faculty by an oversight committee chaired by U-M executive vice president for medical affairs Robert Kelch, M.D.
Scholars are selected for remarkable creativity and research that holds the potential to significantly advance the development of a cure preventive treatment for a human disease.
Meet the inaugural Taubman Scholars:
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Valerie Castle, M.D.: chair of the Department of Pediatrics and Communicable Diseases, the Ravitz Foundation Professor of Pediatrics, and a pediatric cancer specialist whose laboratory is working on strategies to make cancer cells “commit suicide” in the most common form of solid-tumor cancers in children. More about Castle's work |
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Eva Feldman, M.D., Ph.D.: the DeJong Professor of Neurology, head of the U-M Program for Neurology Research & Discovery, and a neurologist and scientist whose laboratory has already received $7 million from Taubman to fund research on the use of stem cells and other approaches to treat amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, which is also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease. More about Feldman’s work |
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David Pinsky, M.D.: is chief of the Division of Cardiovascular Medicine, the Ruth Professor of Internal Medicine, a director of the U-M Cardiovascular Center, and a cardiologist and scientist who studies proteins involved in preventing the formation of clots inside blood vessels, which could lead to a new class of drugs to prevent strokes and heart attacks. More about Pinsky’s work |
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Yehoash Raphael, Ph.D.: the Williams Professor of Otolaryngology, a member of U-M’s Kresge Hearing Research Institute and a cell biologist whose work focuses on the inner ear. He is developing a way to grow stem cells into the “hair cells” that are crucial to our ability to hear, and to implant those cells into deaf ears to replace damaged cells. More about Raphael’s work |
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Max Wicha, M.D.: founding director of the U-M Comprehensive Cancer Center, the Distinguished Professor of Oncology and a cancer researcher who reported the first finding in a solid tumor of cancer stem cells – the small number of cells within a tumor that fuel its growth. More about Wicha's work |
