Carnegie Institution of Washington

Carnegie Institution

News Release

Contact Tina McDowell: tmcdowell@ciw.edu, 202-939-1120

Carnegie Biology in Baltimore gets $1.5-million boost from The Kresge Foundation

BALTIMORE, MD, Dec. 18, 2003. The Carnegie Institution's new developmental biology research laboratory currently under construction in Baltimore has been awarded a grant of $1.5 million by The Kresge Foundation of Troy, Michigan. The laboratory is named for recently retired Carnegie president Maxine F. Singer, a biochemist and widely respected voice on science policy, who led the 100-year-old research organization for 15 years through December 2002.

When completed early in 2005, the $30-million Maxine F. Singer Building will be the new home for the Carnegie Institution's Department of Embryology, providing 13 modern and well-equipped labs, a library and meeting rooms. The building site is located on the Homewood campus of The Johns Hopkins University, not far from the outdated building where the Carnegie Institution has maintained its department for more than 40 years. Scientists there operate as a molecular biology and genetics "think tank," with staff members and researchers seeking to understand the basic mechanisms of cell differentiation, genetic signaling and cell growth.

The award from The Kresge Foundation requires that the Carnegie Institution raise an additional $7.2 million for construction of the Singer Building by July 1, 2005. The foundation has awarded 138 grants in 2003 for a total of $104,640,600. It is an independent, private foundation created by the personal gifts of Sebastian S. Kresge and is not affiliated with any corporation.

Biochemist Maxine F. Singer came to the Carnegie Institution in 1988 from the National Institutes of Health, where she was chief of the Laboratory of Biochemistry at the National Cancer Institute. There she led 15 research groups. In 1992, she was awarded the nation's highest scientific award, the National Medal of Science.

"This award from The Kresge Foundation is prestigious, and I believe that is confirmation of the value placed on the research of Carnegie scientists," said Richard A. Meserve, president of the Carnegie Institution. "This project will open important new horizons in the biological sciences."

For images see http://www.ciwemb.edu/pages/building.html

Additional information can be found at this link http://www.carnegiebaltimore.org

The Carnegie Institution is a nonprofit organization dedicated to basic research and education in life and physical sciences. It was founded in 1902 by Andrew Carnegie as his "institution of discovery." Research is carried out in six separate departments in northwest Washington, D.C.; Baltimore, Maryland; Stanford, California; Pasadena, California and Las Campanas, Chile. Richard A. Meserve is president. Michael E. Gellert is chairman of the Board of Trustees.