Multimillion dollar endowment matched by like donation to fellowship program at Cold Spring Harbor Lab

A Long Island philanthropist gave a multimillion dollar endowment to the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory's fellowship program on Tuesday to attract new scientists and experimental research.

Cynthia Rossbach Stebbins is the original benefactor of the laboratory’s fellowship program 40 years ago. The program is funded entirely by private donors and has attracted postdoctoral scientists and Nobel Prize winners, as well as research into chromosomes, cancer studies and treatment of childhood spinal disease.

The lab will rename the fellowship program for Stebbins, whose donation will fund future research fellows studying the biological factors behind certain cancers and artificial intelligence.

The donation is being matched by Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory chair Marilyn Simons. The endowment was announced during a symposium on Tuesday reuniting 19 of the 21 fellowship alumni, including many who went on to join the laboratory’s faculty.

"Your contribution is going to ensure the longevity of this program, and I think that we'll look forward to some remarkable future scientists carrying out that tradition," said Bruce Stillman, president of Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory. "That's why we need to really support science, not just with federal funds, but with additional philanthropic support."

Backed first fellow

Stebbins said she became affiliated with the lab by "sheer accident" 40 years ago, while looking to invest in biotechnology. She helped back the program’s first fellow, Adrian Krainer, now a professor at the lab, who developed the drug Spinraza, the first treatment for child and infant spinal muscular atrophy.

"I have no children, I would have hoped that they could make a lasting mark in bettering the lives of people around the world," Stebbins said. "But this takes the place of that, and it enables me to feel as though I'm doing some good myself. It's very satisfying. I would urge more people to do it."

Stebbins serves on several laboratory leadership boards, including as co-chair of the lab president’s council and as a member of the lab’s philanthropic Helix Society. She is the previous director of the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Association.

She said she was moved by the work done at the lab in treating cancers and other groundbreaking research.

"It produces all kinds of cures," Stebbins said, noting treatments discovered for three types of cancer. "That’s changing the world for a great many people."

Funds for foreseeable future

The donation will allow the laboratory to fund the fellowship program for the foreseeable future, Stillman said. He said the fellowship launches the work, such as past fellow Carol Greider, who won the 2009 Nobel Prize in physiology and medicine. On Tuesday, she presented her findings on what led to her discovery of telomeres as the protective ends of chromosomes.

"When you have smart people, coupled with the freedom of funding to do what they want, they can really do transformative science," Stillman said.

Following Krainer's fellowship and more than 20 years of research, he developed Spinraza to treat more than 15,000 patients with spinal muscular atrophy. The drug has been approved at higher doses and can treat in infancy.

Krainer is now researching treatment for pancreatic cancer and the selective killing of tumor cells. He said the program gives young, emerging scientists the ability to pursue difficult work through experimental science.

"You never know if you're going to get to the finish line, or at least help others get to the finish line," Krainer said. "The more you understand, the more you know something that seems impossible today may become very feasible at any time. It just requires people to explore."

The lab's next fellow, starting in November, is Thomas Anderson Keller. He's a research fellow at Harvard University Kempner Institute who will come to Cold Spring Harbor to explore machine learning and neuro AI.