Chan Zuckerberg Initiative updates and news from across our initiatives.

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May 2022

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A Note from Priscilla Chan

A few weeks ago, Mark and I had so much fun bringing our team at CZI together for our 2022 Offsite ([link removed] ) and HQ Week ([link removed] ) . After two long years of postponing in-person events due to COVID, it was wonderful to see so many employees face-to-face — to celebrate everything they and our grant partners have accomplished as we make progress towards our mission of helping build a better future for everyone.

Mark Zuckerberg & Priscilla Chan ([link removed] )

We're making progress toward supporting the research, building the tools, and standing up the institutes that will allow us to measure and observe human biology in action. Recently, we announced the scientific focus of the new Chan Zuckerberg Institute for Advanced Biomedical Imaging — teams there will work to identify and map the position of every protein in a cell. This will take years to solve, but will be critical to deepening our understanding of health and disease.

As we recognized Teacher Appreciation Week earlier this month, we’re committed to supporting teacher well-being and equipping teachers for their work with students. And during Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, we continue to dedicate ourselves to advancing equity in all our work.

Here’s a closer look at some of our upcoming plans — plus a few exciting milestones from the spring.

Building Technologies and Institutes to Accelerate Science

Mark and I recently sat down with physician-scientist and Editor-in-Chief of Medscape Dr. Eric Topol to discuss how technology can accelerate science and our ability to observe and measure human biology ([link removed] ) in new ways. We discussed everything from new work that the Chan Zuckerberg Institute for Advanced Biomedical Imaging will be taking on, to how current CZI tools like cellxgene, napari, and napari hub are helping to push forward progress in single-cell biology and imaging, to the scientific community’s excitement around the search for the next Chan Zuckerberg Biohub. It was a fun conversation — watch the full talk or read the full conversation transcript ([link removed] ) .

Dr. Eric Topolo interviews Mark Zuckerberg & Priscilla Chan ([link removed] )

And while we’re on the topic of science and technology, I’d encourage you to check out this interview with Justine Larsen ([link removed] ) . She’s an engineering manager at CZI who’s helping us build open-source biomedical imaging tools — like napari and napari hub — in partnership with the imaging community and moving us closer to a future where we can see everything that’s happening in the body, at any scale and in real-time.

In our science work — and in everything we do — we are deeply focused on building a more diverse scientific community and welcoming more people into the research process. My colleague Norbert Tavares recently wrote a powerful op-ed ([link removed] ) explaining why encouraging greater representation in lifesaving scientific research matters so much, and what we can do to remove the barriers to participation.

I also want to share that Cori Bargmann, CZI’s Head of Science, was recently recognized by STAT ([link removed] ) as one of the most important changemakers in the life sciences. Cori is known around CZI for many things — her vision, her wit, her heart, her extraordinary impact — and every day, I consider myself lucky to call her my friend and my colleague. Congratulations, Cori!

Taking Care of Our Teachers

Last week, we celebrated Teacher Appreciation Week, an important time for us to not only thank our teachers, but to step up and support them ([link removed] ) . That’s why, this year, CZI focused on enhancing teacher well-being ([link removed] ) by building community and fostering strong relationships. And we’re keeping that critical conversation going throughout Mental Health Awareness Month in May.

We’ll also continue our focus on supporting students’ well-being — because educators and researchers alike have made it clear ([link removed] ) that this is vital for them to succeed academically.

NewSchools Summit Conversation with Priscilla Chan ([link removed] )

I was honored to join Phyllis Lockett, a pioneer in education, in a recent conversation at the NewSchools Summit ([link removed] ) . We talked about how to best support student and teacher well-being ([link removed] ) , research on the importance of strengthening relationships in schools, and tools — like Along ([link removed] ) — that CZI is building to help foster those critical connections.

Investing in Progress

One of the ways CZI seeks to improve education is by supporting education companies through venture investments that help them grow their impact for students. I want to congratulate our investee Handshake ([link removed] ) , on raising $200 million to help students build relationships with employers and launch their careers. I’d also like to congratulate Lovevery, from our early childhood portfolio, on being named one of FastCompany’s most innovative education companies of 2022 ([link removed] ) .

We’re also excited about a new venture partner, Apollo Agriculture ([link removed] ) , which is helping support sustainable agriculture, food security, and economic development in Africa. At a time when global food demand is on the rise, Apollo is working directly with small-scale farmers to help them grow profitably and access the financing they critically need.

Supporting Promising Climate Change Solutions

Just last month, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change released a report ([link removed] ) reaffirming that to avoid even more climate catastrophes, we’re going to need to develop and scale technologies that remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere in addition to drastically lowering emissions. At CZI, we’re exploring how we can help address climate change through supporting cutting-edge and emerging solutions ([link removed] ) , including carbon dioxide removal technologies.

Carbon removal is a necessary complement to — not a substitute for — rapidly transitioning away from fossil fuels. These technologies can also help reduce emissions in hard-to-decarbonize industries like aviation, steel and concrete.

One innovative new approach is the work of Dr. Gaurav N. Sant and his team at UCLA ([link removed] ) . They developed a new way to produce concrete that could keep a billion tons of carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere each year. CarbonBuilt’s ([link removed] ) low-carbon concrete is already being used to build homes. We’re proud to support their progress, as well as the work Dr. Sant kicked off at UCLA’s Institute for Carbon Management to continue creating new carbon removal technologies.

These are still early days for carbon removal. But every time I speak to the scientists and engineers who are leading the work, I feel a surge of hope for our planet and our future.

Supporting Our Communities and Building a More Equitable Housing System

CZI Housing Affordability ([link removed] )

May is Affordable Housing Month ([link removed] ) — and an opportunity for us to collaborate with our partners to advance innovative solutions that will help preserve existing housing, produce more affordable housing, and protect residents from displacement. We’re thrilled to have worked closely with the Housing Leadership Council of San Mateo County ([link removed] ) to host an event in CZI’s Community Space earlier this week, which focused on innovative, cross-sector solutions ([link removed] ) to the housing affordability crisis in San Mateo County and beyond. CZI’s Community Space provides free meeting and event spaces to organizations serving San Mateo County. We’re currently exhibiting seven amazing local artists ([link removed] ) in the first of a semi-annual series to create a more vibrant, inclusive community through art.

We’ve spent the last three years researching new ways to build greater public and political will to help advance affordable housing solutions. The product of that work is The California Dream: Housing Affordability White Paper ([link removed] ) , which offers new tools and resources to help support advocates that are helping improve access to housing for all Californians.

This work requires building collaborations with experts outside CZI who are doing groundbreaking research in our local communities, including the Gardner Center’s study ([link removed] ) to better understand the impact of youth homelessness on educational outcomes in San Mateo County, and a collaborative research effort ([link removed] ) to analyze the feasibility of building education workforce housing on underutilized school lands. We had several opportunities to talk about these community-driven solutions at Housing California’s 2022 Annual Conference ([link removed] ) , and we're thrilled that our panel on Naturally Occurring Affordable Housing (NOAH) ([link removed] ) was one of the most highly attended at the entire conference.

As always, thank you for your interest in our work at CZI, and for all that you do to help build a better future for everyone. On behalf of our entire team, we wish you the best.

With care,

CO-FOUNDER AND CO-CEO

CHAN ZUCKERBERG INITIATIVE

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