In 2015, LuminOva, a biotech start-up company based in Boston MA., won the Bertarelli Prize at Harvard University’s iLab. The prize is awarded annually as part of the Deans’ Health and Life Sciences Challenge which encourages nascent businesses to develop and grow towards commercialisation. Whilst many businesses enter the Challenge each year and benefit from the mentoring, […]
A landmark resolution was adopted, in June 2015 by a consensus of UN member states, to develop a legally-binding treaty for the conservation of marine life beyond national territorial waters – that area of the ocean shared by all. Resolution UNGA 99/292 signalled a major step forward toward convening an intergovernmental negotiating conference that would […]
For the last week, scientists on the Bertarelli Foundation’s expedition to the Chagos Archipelago in the British Indian Ocean Territory have been carrying out research in a wide range of ecosystems. Dominic Andradi-Brown, from the University of Oxford, is taking part in the expedition and has provided the following update about the work he has been […]
Representatives from 83 countries gathered at the UN headquarters in New York last month to begin work towards an agreement to protect ocean biodiversity in the high seas. After two weeks of negotiations, the first meeting of the Preparatory Committee concluded on a very positive note. This meeting was the first of four two-week sessions which […]
The 2016 Deans’ Health and Life Sciences Challenge at Harvard’s iLab is nearing its final stages as the finalists for this year’s competition have been announced. From over 60 applicants, five student-led teams have been selected, one of which will be awarded the Bertarelli Prize on May 4th. This year’s finalists are: Antera produces an […]
For many years the Bertarelli Foundation has supported the creation of large-scale Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) as a means of protecting threatened biodiversity in the world’s ocean. In 2010 we assisted with the British Government’s plan to create the world’s largest MPA around the British Indian Ocean Territory, and since then have supported the ongoing enforcement […]
The University of Belize Environmental Research Institute held an inauguration ceremony for the Staff and Visitor Quarters on the grounds of the Calabash Caye Field Station, Turneffe Atoll, on November 30, 2015. Supported by the Bertarelli Foundation, this is an important step in the development of this facility for local and visiting scientists which is […]
At the Our Ocean Conference in Valparaíso, the Chilean President, Michelle Bachelet, announced that her Government is to create one of the world’s largest fully protected marine parks in the waters surrounding Easter Island. At 631,368 square kilometers (243,630 square miles), the new marine park will be the third-largest fully protected area of ocean in […]
The second Our Ocean conference has just started in Valparaiso, Chile and will hopefully be the the venue for many important ocean-saving announcements. Like the first conference which was held last year in Washington DC, this conference will play host to world leaders, NGOs and philanthropists all with the commitment and vision to help secure a […]
It is with much sadness, but also with pride for having had the privilege to know him, that the Bertarelli Foundation reports the passing of Professor Howard Jones, who, together with his wife Professor Georgeanna Jones, was a pioneer of IVF in the USA. Professor Jones was 104. The Professors Jones were the founders of […]
Study funded by Bertarelli Foundation is a collaboration between Harvard Medical School, Boston Children’s Hospital and EPFL which takes a step toward precision medicine for genetic hearing loss Using gene therapy, researchers at Boston Children’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School together with colleagues at the EPFL have restored hearing in mice with a genetic form […]
The culmination of the academic year at Harvard University’s iLab is the awarding of the Bertarelli Prize to the winner of the Dean’s Health and Life Sciences Challenge. This year it was the turn of LuminOva to walk away with the prestigious award and a cheque for $40,000. LuminOva was formed to address the problem of […]