OVER $2 MILLION GIVEN SINCE 2017
RECENT GRANTEES
EDUCATING GIRLS OF RURAL CHINA
WELLESLEY COLLEGE
HEALTH CARE
WITHOUT WALLS
MASSACHUSETTS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
COLLEGEBOUND FOUNDATION
MASSACHUSETTS
GENERAL HOSPITAL
CEDARS-SINAI
BUCK INSTITUTE
GRANTEE SPOTLIGHT
EDUCATING GIRLS OF RURAL CHINA
Scholarship and Leadership Program
ERGC is a Canada-based charity dedicated to the education of young women from rural areas of China.
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Our 2019-2021 grant to EGRC is funding the Future Leader Scholarship Program, which aims to empower young women from impoverished, rural areas in China through education and access to resources. EGRC identified a group of fifteen promising young college students, from a total of 105 applicants, to receive the scholarship.
Selected students are from rural regions of Gansu Province (lowest GDP per capita in China) and demonstrate significant financial need (family income less than $5.5USD/person/day). Each of the fifteen selected scholars will receive a scholarship of $1000 USD per year to be used for tuition, school supplies, and other living expenses. Additionally, they will receive English lessons, leadership skills and communication classes, community service activities, and internship opportunities.
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MASSACHUSETTS GENERAL HOSPITAL
Lab of Patricia K. Donahoe
Dr. Patricia K. Donahoe, MD has been a pioneer for her entire life. When she attended Harvard Medical School in the early 1960s, only ten other women were in her class of 120 students, with only six of them making it to graduation. Later on, she entered pediatric surgery practice and became the very first woman to become a professor of surgery at Harvard Medical School.
Now, with over fifty years of experience, she is one of the most recognized women in science in the Boston area. Although she has recently retired from her surgery practice, she continues to serve as the director of Pediatric Surgical Research Laboratories at Massachusetts General Hospital, which conducts research on many women's and maternal health issues.
The Foundation's grant-making partially supports the Donahoe Research Fund at MGH, which funds research on genetic causes of birth defects and other women's health related topics.
HMF also established the Patricia K. Donahoe, MD Pediatric Surgery Endowed Lecture Fund in 2019 and the Patricia K. Donahoe Surgeon-Scientist Research Training Fund in 2021.
MASSACHUSETTS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
Center for Gynepathology Research, Dr. Linda G. Griffith
Dr. Linda G. Griffith is the director of MIT's Center for Gynepathology research, where she and her team focus on under-studied disorders of the female reproductive tract, such as endometriosis and adenomyosis.
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Our ongoing commitment to MIT has allowed Dr. Griffith and her lab to explore a variety of innovative projects, including a pilot study which used AI analysis of electronic medical record and imaging in order to discover undiagnosed endometriosis and adenomyosis, another AI pilot study in collaboration with the Katabi lab which utilized Emerald devices to detect changes in sleep patterns and movement as an indication of pain in post-operational patients, and general work on producing organ-on-chips models for women's health research.
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Funds from our general support grant have also gone towards the Translational Gynecology Seminar course at MIT (spring 2019).
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HEALTHCARE WITHOUT WALLS
With Dr. Roseanna Means
Healthcare Without Walls is a nonprofit organization dedicated to providing free, compassionate medical care, education, and advocacy to homeless women and children in greater Boston.
The Foundation's 2019 grant will allow HCWW to hire 3-5 pre-med student interns, who will be responsible for interviewing approximately 900 HCWW clients in 2020. Interviews will take place at one of HCWW's two shelter clinic locations in Boston: Women’s Lunch Place in the Back Bay or Rosie’s Place in the South End. The interns will conduct intimate interviews lasting for one hour or longer to collect data about the client's health, which will be used to help HCWW staff identify and address problems and coordinate services. Grant funds will also be used to provide a two hour orientation and sensitivity training.
WELLESLEY COLLEGE
With Dr. Tracy Gladstone
Tracy R. G. Gladstone, Ph.D., is an associate director and senior research scientist at the Wellesley Centers for Women. Her work is centered on the research, development, and evaluation of programs aimed toward prevention of depression and other mental health disorders in youth.
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HMF's 2019 grant will fund the "Ministering to the Blue" campus mental health project, which will allow Dr. Gladstone to apply her expertise in psychology in order to assess and address the mental wellbeing of currently enrolled Wellesley College students. Ultimately, the program aims to mobilize Wellesley College students and faculty in order to develop a tailored online depression intervention system using the NIMH-backed CATCH-IT platform.
The grant will fund student and faculty focus groups and student-driven content production to not only provide data for Dr. Gladstone's research but also foster student involvement on campus.