Michael Boyce’s scientific journey began where the human cell’s life cycle ends. Cell death captivated him from the start of his graduate work. “The idea that there are genetic programs that cells use to die upon the right stimulus or the right timing was a really interesting concept,” he says.
Join our entrepreneurial team working to advance discovery science, collaborative philanthropy, and holistic approaches to strengthening science and democracy. We are looking for a highly collaborative program events and digital engagement manager to produce exceptional experiences for our civic science, Scholars, and philanthropic networks across in-person, virtual, and hybrid formats.
In a fireside chat hosted by the Rita Allen Foundation in December 2025, Francis Collins—former Director of the National Institutes of Health and leader of the Human Genome Project—joined Harvey Fineberg, former President of the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, for a wide-ranging conversation on scientific leadership, civic bridges, and…
Civic Science Funders Collaborative Advisory Series | Embedding Ethics to Accelerate Discovery: A Civic Science Conversation with Dame Carol Robinson In the November 2025 Civic Science Funders Collaborative Advisory Series, Rita Allen Foundation President & CEO Elizabeth Christopherson joined Kavli Foundation President & CEO Cynthia Friend in conversation with Dame…
In the latest Civic Science Funders Collaborative Advisory Series piece, Rita Allen Foundation President & CEO Elizabeth Christopherson joins Burroughs Wellcome Fund President & CEO Louis J. Muglia in conversation with Maureen Lichtveld, Dean of the University of Pittsburgh School of Public Health and a pioneering…
Ralph Izzo, former President, Chairman, and Chief Executive Officer of Public Service Enterprise Group (PSEG), has been elected to the Rita Allen Foundation Board of Directors. Izzo, whose term begins immediately, brings to the position deep experience in connecting science, technology, and civic leadership—a focus of the Foundation in its…
The Civic Science Fellows program is announcing opportunities to become a Civic Science Fellow host partner for the next cohort, which will begin in September 2026. Civic science connects people across different expertise and experiences to strengthen science, communities, and public decision-making—as interdependent elements of a thriving future. Through the…
Since 2009, the Rita Allen Foundation has provided a special award for early-career leaders in basic pain research whose work holds high potential for uncovering new pathways to improve the treatment of chronic pain. The Foundation has awarded annually two grants or more in the amount of $150,000 over three…
Physician-scientists are the bridge between bench and bedside. What they observe in their patients becomes the subject of lab research, and what they learn from their lab research ideally translates into improved patient care. Stanford pain specialist Vivianne Tawfik, M.D., Ph.D., is a prime example of a physician-scientist whose robust…
2012 Rita Allen Scholar Sreekanth Chalasani first became interested in science as a child growing up in India. He was keenly aware of the world around him—when it would rain, he would wait for the earthworms and critters that come out after the storms to emerge,…