NYU Langone Health received $15 million from philanthropists Wendy and Wayne Holman earlier this month, marking the largest gift ever given to the NYU Grossman School of Medicine by one of its alumni. The contribution will be put toward expanding research in endocrinology, diabetes and metabolism.
Wayne said the donation aims to enhance support for faculty researchers and caregivers, while also increasing the medical center’s capacity to serve a greater number of patients. The gift will also help create clinical trials and academic forums in the newly named Holman Division of Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism, which will treat and study endocrine disorders.
“I have seen firsthand the tremendously innovative research and compassionate patient care undertaken and provided by NYU Langone,” Wayne said in a statement to WSN. “Further advancing that effort will help many people.”
Wayne, a Grossman alum, serves on NYU Langone’s board of trustees and is a founder of Ridgeback Biotherapeutics, a biotech company that develops medicines for combating infectious diseases. Wayne also established Ridgeback Capital, an investment firm that has provided funding for over 100 biopharma businesses to develop medications and treatments targeting infectious diseases and cancers.
The Holmans have also made sizable donations to health-related causes at other institutions. In 2022, they gave $5 million to the University of Pennsylvania — which Wendy is an alumnus of — to renovate its biotech commons, a space for health science studies.
“Wendy and Wayne are people who have dedicated every aspect of their lives to helping others,” Kenneth G. Langone, chair of the medical center’s board of trustees, said in the press release. “They see NYU Langone as an institution with the ability to magnify every dollar, and through which they can have exponential impact.”
Contact Bruna Horvath at [email protected].
