Owner Robert Kraft of the New England Patriots clapping his hands as he walks off the field prior to a game against the New York Giants at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, Nov. 15, 2015. (Nick Cammett/Diamond Images via Getty Images)
(JTA) — Robert Kraft, the Jewish owner of the New England Patriots, will donate $20 million to fund research in personalized medicine.
The Robert and Myra Kraft Family Foundation pledged the money to the Harvard Business School to create the Kraft Endowment for Advancing Precision Medicine, the school announced Wednesday.
The Kraft Endowment will support research and other activities that advance the growing field of precision medicine, which allows scientists and physicians to use a patient’s genetic history and other information such as lifestyle to understand a disease based on its biological mechanisms, then diagnose and develop tailored treatments.
Two initial pilot research projects are set to begin in the coming months.
Kraft’s wife, Myra, died of ovarian cancer in 2011 and, according to the school, he pursued precision medicine to help her.
