The JMF will host a series of events for honored guests, colleagues, and supporters in dedication to Immunology, Discovery and Harvard. The day’s activities include the second symposium of the Robert A. Good Immunology Society with 30 of the world’s leading immunologists speaking, a ribbon cutting ceremony at the Jeffrey Modell Immunology Center, and a tour of the new Robert A. Good Library and the Fred S. Rosen Lecture Hall to honor their roles as founding fathers of modern immunology.

The day will conclude with a private dinner at the Harvard Club, featuring a special performance by the famed Boston Children’s Chorus. The 200 plus member group has performed at the top charitable, corporate and civic events locally as well as on tour both nationally and internationally. D. Holmes Morton, M.D., co-founder of the Clinic for Special Children located in the Amish countryside in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania will give a special address following the performance. Dr. Morton is recognized internationally for innovative studies in the diagnosis and treatment of genetic disorders, as well as the discovery of the genetic bias of problems within the Amish and Mennonite populations. Among many distinguishing awards and honorary doctoral degrees, Holmes Morton was given the Albert Schweitzer Prize for Humanitarianism and named a Hero of Medicine by Time magazine and most recently was awarded the prestigious MacArthur fellowship.

Centrally located on the Harvard Medical School Quadrangle, the Jeffrey Modell Immunology Center will provide a home base for immunologists worldwide and throughout the Harvard medical and scientific community. This is the first building in the United States to be designed for a graduate sciences program in immunology. It will be an operative and geographic focus for both faculty and graduate students from the Medical School, the 17 teaching hospitals, and Harvard University science departments. Most importantly, it will facilitate the collaboration of immunology researchers from clinical and basic research departments and profoundly enhance discovery and productivity.

“After 21 years it is an emotional and climatic point in our lives to see the number one medical school in the nation establish a building in our son’s name, and to know that life-altering work will come out of this monumental endeavor,” says Fred and Vicki Modell. “We are truly grateful to all those that have helped to make this happen and we are so proud that Jeffrey is going to Harvard!”

The Jeffrey Modell Center is a unique facility that will provide much needed space for teaching, seminars, educational events, lounges, office space, and a new library. It will maximize collaboration between faculty, postdoctoral fellows, and students in the graduate program in immunology, as well as throughout the Longwood medical area. The Center will contribute to the development of highly trained immunologists at a time when emerging research has become the key to treatment, prevention and cures for a host of deadly and debilitating diseases.

“Harvard Medical School is renowned throughout the nation and the world for its outstanding leadership in medical research. The Jeffrey Modell Center will keep Harvard at the cutting edge for years to come in the field of immunology and for prevention, treatment, and cures of a wide range of deadly and debilitating diseases,” said Senator Edward M. Kennedy, Chairman of the Senate Health Committee.

The Jeffrey Modell Immunology Center will also be home to the Robert A. Good Library and Fred S. Rosen Lecture Hall. As the founders of modern immunology Dr. Robert A. Good and Dr. Fred S. Rosen will be honored for their tremendous contributions to the foundation of immunology. Dr. Good had numerous research achievements over the past half-century and is credited with the discovery of the function of the thymus, defined our understanding of T and B cell lymphocyte systems, and performed the first successful bone marrow transplant in 1968. As one of the world’s foremost authorities on immunology and primary immunodeficiencies, Dr. Rosen was the distinguished James Gamble Professor of Pediatrics at Harvard Medical School.

The Jeffrey Modell Foundation
The Jeffrey Modell Foundation (JMF) was established in 1987 by Vicki and Fred Modell, in memory of their son, Jeffrey, who died from complications of Primary Immunodeficiency at the age of 15. JMF is a multi-faceted global nonprofit foundation devoted to the early and precise diagnosis, meaningful treatments, and ultimately cures of PI, and is focused on physician education, public awareness, and clinical and basic research to better understand and treat these Immunodeficiencies. To date, there are 35 Jeffrey Modell Research and Diagnostic Centers in the U.S., Canada, Europe, Middle East, and Asia. Recently they established a collaboration with the NIH and Affymetrix to develop a Gene Chip using Microarray technology to do Newborn Screening of Severe Combined Immune Deficiency. The Modells have raised over $40 million for research and education since starting the Foundation in 1987.

Harvard Medical School
The mission of the Harvard Medical School is to create and nurture a diverse community of the best people committed to leadership in alleviating human suffering caused by disease. It is the number one medical school in the United States for the past 19 years. There are 7,099-fulltime faculty working at 17 Harvard Teaching Hospitals and Research Institutes. Harvard Medical School has produced 12 Nobel Prize winners.