Priscilla Chan & Mark Zuckerberg – Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory

Priscilla Chan and Mark Zuckerberg co-founded the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative in December 2015. The Chan Zuckerberg Initiative is a new kind of philanthropic organization that brings together world-class engineering, grant-making, impact investing, policy, and advocacy work. Their initial areas of focus include supporting science through basic biomedical research and education through personalized learning. The Chan Zuckerberg Initiative is also exploring other issues tied to the promotion of equal opportunity including access to affordable housing and criminal justice reform. The Chan Zuckerberg Initiative strives to be lifelong learners who work collaboratively across functions in service of our mission.

As a pediatrician and former teacher, Priscilla’s work with patients and students in communities across the Bay Area has informed her desire to make learning more personalized and find a path to cure disease. She is also the founder and CEO of The Primary School, which integrates health and education and serves children and families in East Palo Alto and the Belle Haven neighborhood in Menlo Park, California. Priscilla earned her BA in Biology at Harvard University and her MD at University of California, San Francisco (UCSF). She completed her pediatrics training in the UCSF/PLUS Pediatrics Residency. As the founder and CEO of Facebook, Mark brings rich technical experience and a deep commitment to building strong communities to the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative’s work. Mark studied computer science at Harvard University before moving to Palo Alto, California in 2004.