News

In January 2022, American Museum of Natural History Curator Melanie Hopkins was looking through boxes of historic trilobite specimens slated to be included in the Museum’s yet-to-open Louis V. Gerstner, Jr. Collections Core when she noticed something strange. “I quickly realized that not all the specimens in the boxes were the same species,” said Hopkins, who is the chair of the Museum’s Division of Paleontology. “So I started reading some of the history of this species, and it turns out that I wasn't the first to notice this.” Hopkins found that as early as 1842 and as recently as 2002, researchers around the country had questioned whether there was more than one species being catalogued under a single species name. With the help of collaborator Markus Martin, Hopkins examined the existing literature as well as new and historical fossil collections at the Museum, and found two distinct species had both been identified as Flexicalymene senaria. Their resulting study, recently published in American Museum Novitates, gives a name to the new species: Flexicalymene trentonesis, inspired by Trenton Falls, NY, close to where the fossils were found. Congratulations to the American Museum of Natural History, Melanie Hopkins, and Markus Martin for this discovery!

As oncology becomes more technologically advanced, a growing number of institutions are offering cancer engineering programs. This year, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center welcomed its first class of PhD students in the Pat and Ian Cook Doctoral Program in Cancer Engineering. This program in the Louis V. Gerstner School of Biomedical Sciences currently has 12 doctoral scholars and is designed to give students a fundamental understanding of cancer and biomedical engineering principles. “If someone wants to be an engineer right where the big problems are and the big questions are, they should do cancer engineering at a place like Memorial Sloan Kettering,” said Daniel A. Heller, PhD, codirector of the program and the head of MSKCC’s cancer nanotechnology laboratory.

Gerstner Philanthropies proudly celebrated the ribbon cutting of the Louis V. Gerstner III Center for Students and Families at Kolbe Cathedral Preparatory School in Bridgeport, marking the completion of renovations that will strengthen Catholic education for the students of Kolbe Cathedral. Named in honor of Louis V. Gerstner III, the center will support Kolbe’s mission with upgraded classrooms, weight and exercise rooms, and a student success center. It will also be the base for Kolbe’s Marian Work Study program and the St. Joseph Parenting Center. “This center is a beacon of hope for our students, families, and their community, [Bishop Caggiano] said."

Gerstner Philanthropies proudly celebrates the 20th anniversary of the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, honoring two decades of groundbreaking biomedical and genomic research. Since its founding in 2004 following the completion of the Human Genome Project, the Broad Institute has made monumental advances in disease understanding and medical innovation. Our partnership with Broad, established over a decade ago, includes Louis V. Gerstner, Jr.'s leadership as Board Chairman from 2013-2021, and the 2019 founding of the Gerstner Center for Cancer Diagnostics. The Gerstner Center for Cancer Diagnostics aims to advance blood-based biopsies and other technologies to speed cancer diagnoses and track patients' response to therapies.

On October 11, Gerstner Philanthropies celebrated the rededication of the St. Philip Neri School in the Bronx, marking a step forward for Catholic education and community engagement. Led by Cardinal Timothy Dolan, the event highlighted the completion of key renovations that will offer future generations a high quality catholic education in a new and improved learning environment. Louis V. Gerstner, Jr., Chairman of Gerstner Philanthropies, had an opportunity to sit down and share a Q&A with student ambassadors from the middle school.