====== Rockefeller University ======

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**Rockefeller University** is an American private graduate university in [[united_states_of_america:New_York:New York City]]. It focuses primarily on the biological and medical sciences and provides doctoral and postdoctoral education. Rockefeller is the oldest biomedical research institute in the [[United States of America]], and has dominated its medical life since 1901.((//Rockefeller University.// (2021, November 26). [[Wikispooks]]. https://archive.ph/iGRcn))

The university's first director of laboratories [[Simon Flexner]] was the brother of [[Abraham Flexner]], the author of the [[Flexner Report to Congress]]. The report was the decisive part of the [[Rockefeller]] family's offensive to take over the American medical system.

===== History =====

==== Founding ====

The Rockefeller University was founded in June 1901 as The Rockefeller Institute for Medical Research by [[John D. Rockefeller]], who had founded the [[University of Chicago]] in 1889, upon advice by his advisor [[Frederick T. Gates]] and action taken in March 1901 by his son, [[John D. Rockefeller Jr.]]((Chernow, R. (2013). //Titan : the life of John D. Rockefeller, Sr.// Vintage Books. https://www.worldcat.org/title/titan-the-life-of-john-d-rockefeller-sr/oclc/37615450)) ((Swingle, A. B. (2017, October 29). //The Rockefeller Chronicle.// Wayback Machine; Hopkins Medical News. https://web.archive.org/web/20171029011948/http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org:80/hmn/F02/annals.html)) 

Greatly elevating the prestige of American science and medicine, it was America's first biomedical institute, like France's [[Pasteur Institute]] and Germany's [[Robert Koch Institute]]. The [[Rockefeller Foundation]], a philanthropic organization founded in 1913, is a separate entity, but has close connections mediated by prominent figures holding dual positions.((Hannaway C. //Biomedicine in the Twentieth Century: Practices, Policies, and Politics// (Amsterdam: IOS Press, 2008), [[https://books.google.com/books?id=o5HBxyg5APIC&pg=PA230|p 230]], note 46.))

The first director of laboratories was [[Simon Flexner]], who supervised the development of research capacity at the Institute, and whose staff made major discoveries in basic research and medicine. While a student at [[Johns Hopkins University]], Flexner had studied under the Institute's first scientific director, [[William H. Welch]], first dean of Hopkins' medical school and known as "the dean of American medicine." Flexner retired in 1935 and was succeeded by [[Herbert Gasser]].((//Herbert S. Gasser - Biography.// (2013, March 21). Wayback Machine; Nobel Media AB. https://web.archive.org/web/20130321071345/http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/medicine/laureates/1944/gasser.html)) He was succeeded in 1953 by [[Detlev Bronk]], who broadened The Rockefeller Institute into a university that began awarding the PhD degree in 1954. In 1965, The Rockefeller Institute's name was changed to The Rockefeller University.

==== 21st Century ====

It was the site of the 2009 [[Good Club]] meeting, a secret get-together of some of the world's most powerful billionaires including [[Bill Gates]], [[Oprah Winfrey]], [[George Soros]], [[Warren Buffett]], and [[Ted Turner]], discussing the problem of how to solve [[population_control|overpopulation]].((Harris, P. (2009, May 30). //They’re called the Good Club - and they want to save the world.// The Guardian. https://archive.ph/VhYU2))

In January 2011, Rockefeller University joined [[pharmaceutical_companies:Pfizer]]'s [[Pfizer’s Centers for Therapeutic Innovation|Centers for Therapeutic Innovation]] (CTI) program.((//Rockefeller joins Pfizer’s Global Centers For Therapeutic Innovation.// (2011, January 26). The Rockefeller University. http://archive.today/2023.01.27-140206/https://www.rockefeller.edu/news/455-rockefeller-joins-pfizers-global-centers-for-therapeutic-innovation/))
===== Research =====

For its first six decades, the Institute focused on research to develop basic science, applied research as biomedical engineering, and clinical science. The [[Rockefeller Hospital]]'s first director [[Rufus Cole]] retired in 1937 and was succeeded by [[Thomas Milton Rivers]].((//Medicine: At Rockefeller Hospital.// (1937, May 24). Wayback Machine; [[TIME]]. https://web.archive.org/web/20110628234647/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,848704,00.html)) As director of The Rockefeller Institute's virology laboratory, he established [[virology]] as an independent field apart from [[bacteriology]].

==== Eugenics ====

While working at the Rockefeller Institute for Medical Research, French surgeon and biologist [[Alexis Carrel]] suggested the use of gas to euthanize lawbreakers, and in a later edition endorsed the [[europe:germany:German]] “suppression” of “the defective.”((Schambra, W. A. (2013, October 1). //Philanthropy’s Original Sin.// Hudson Institute. https://www.hudson.org/research/9747-philanthropy-s-original-sin))

==== Infectious Diseases ====

The school has received 25 grants from the [[Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation]] from 2006-2021.((//Committed Grants.// (2022). Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. https://web.archive.org/web/20220618184128/https://www.gatesfoundation.org/about/committed-grants?q=Rockefeller%20University)) Funded activities include research into [[tuberculosis]], [[monoclonal antibodies]], diagnostic testing and “novel” [[vaccines]] for [[HIV]], [[ZMapp]] manufacturing for [[Ebola]] prevention, vaccine adjuvants, the [[microbiome]], mother-child transfer of IgG [[antibodies]], [[gene editing]], artificial olfactory receptors, [[COVID-19]] testing assays, evaluating cellular and molecular events post-[[mRNA]] vaccine, and monoclonal antibodies against [[SARS-CoV-2]].

===== Affiliations =====

[[David Rockefeller]] joined the board of trustees in 1940, was its chairman from 1950 to 1975, chaired the board's executive committee from 1975 to 1995, became honorary chairman and life trustee, and remained active until his death in 2017.((//David Rockefeller honored with named professorship: Barry Coller will be first David Rockefeller Professor".// News & Notes. 12 (12). The Rockefeller University. December 15, 2000))

==== Researchers ====

=== Margaret Hamburg ===

Early in her career, [[Margaret Hamburg]] conducted neuroscience research at Rockefeller University.((//Margaret A. Hamburg.// (2020, January 27). SFARI. https://archive.ph/DjwT9)) In addition to becoming a member of the board of trustees for the university,((//Margaret Hamburg elected to Rockefeller Board of Trustees.// (2005, November 2). The Rockefeller University. https://archive.ph/MmgDp)) she would also go on to hold prominent positions with the [[National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases]] under Dr. [[Anthony Fauci]], the U.S. [[Food and Drug Administration]], [[United States Department of Health and Human Services]], [[Rockefeller Foundation]], [[Harvard University]], [[Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations]], [[Gavi|Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance]], the [[Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation]], [[Wellcome Trust]], the [[University of Washington]], [[Council on Foreign Relations]], and the [[Nuclear Threat Initiative]], among others.

In her various positions, Hamburg has participated in several [[pandemic war games]] including [[Dark Winter|Operation Dark Winter]], [[Clade X]], and the [[2021 Monkeypox Tabletop Exercise]].

=== Charles Rice ===

  * [[https://web.archive.org/web/20201011005232/https://seek.rockefeller.edu/charles-m-rice-2/]]