On Feb. 4, 2009, the presidents of the MGH, MIT and Harvard University announced the creation of the Ragon Institute of MGH, MIT and Harvard. The Institute was formed to find new ways of preventing and curing human disease through harnessing the power of the immune system, and brings scientists and clinicians together with engineers using the latest technologies in an interdisciplinary effort to better understand how the body fights infections.

The initial focus of the institute will be the most pressing global health problem today, the need for an effective vaccine against AIDS. Founded through a $100 million gift from the Phillip T. and Susan M. Ragon Institute Foundation, the Ragon Institute will bring scientists and clinicians together with engineers using the latest technologies in an interdisciplinary effort to better understand how the body fights infections and ultimately to apply that understanding against a wide range of infectious diseases and cancers.

Administratively based at MGH, the Ragon Institute will link clinicians and scientists with patients to ensure that the research remains highly relevant to human disease. The Ragon donation – the largest in MGH history – will provide a multidisciplinary team of world-class researchers with support that bypasses the wait time involved in traditional grant funding.