Glenn Foundation

The late Paul F. Glenn, JD '55 (pictured), a brilliant investor who parlayed his mastery of commodities markets into riches that have fueled leading-edge medical research, once belonged to a barbershop quartet that he formed with three of his law school classmates. They made an album together and performed throughout the Greater Boston area, four voices in harmony.

Today, within the Paul F. Glenn Center for Biology of Aging Research at Harvard Medical School, there exists a different kind of quartet, though its members work in harmony all the same, pursuing the common goal of extending the healthy years of a person’s life. They are the leaders of the HMS center’s four labs: David Sinclair, PhD, professor of genetics and co-director of the center; Bruce A. Yankner, MD, PhD, professor of genetics and neurology and co-director of the center; Marcia Haigis, PhD, professor of cell biology; and Amy Wagers, PhD, the Forst Family Professor of Stem Cell and Regenerative Biology at Harvard and co-chair of the Department of Stem Cell and Regenerative Biology.

Singing their praises is K. Leonard Judson, CEO of the Glenn Foundation for Medical Research, which Glenn established in 1965. The foundation began supporting HMS in 2005 and has given more than $17 million to the School since then, including a recent $1.6 million grant supporting the Glenn Center at HMS.

“In creating the Paul F. Glenn Centers, we have always expected that the sum of the collective laboratories and scientists would be more than the individual parts,” says Judson. “This is true for both the individual centers and the cumulative network. The Glenn Center at HMS has been a great example of both. We have seen collaboration among principal investigators at Harvard that probably wouldn’t have otherwise occurred, and they have reached out to form associations with scientists at other centers.”

The Glenn Foundation has funded more than $100 million in basic research through these centers and other programmatic activities.

“Continued support from the Glenn Foundation has led to new technology and novel approaches to understanding aging, ranging from stem cell models to aging clocks to the preservation of cognitive function,” says Yankner. “This cross-disciplinary effort would be difficult to sustain through traditional grant funding mechanisms. As such, the center plays a pivotal role in pushing the boundaries of aging biology and medicine at Harvard.”

In a nod to Paul Glenn, Sinclair says, “We are so grateful for this new grant, which will allow us to continue to research why aging occurs and what we can do about it to improve human health in order to honor Mr. Glenn’s legacy.”