The Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard has announced commitments totaling $300 million from Eric and Wendy Schmidt and Eli and Edythe Broad.

A $150 million commitment from Schmidt Futures will launch the Eric and Wendy Schmidt Center, an initiative of the Broad Institute aimed at catalyzing a new scientific discipline at the intersection of biology and machine learning, with the ultimate goal of improving human health. Inspired by exponential advances in data technologies and advances in next-generation DNA sequencing, single-cell genomics, and medical imaging, the center will work to promote interdisciplinary research between the data and life sciences.

The Eli & Edythe Broad Foundation will match the Schmidts' gift with an additional endowment gift of $150 million, bringing the Broad Foundation's total support for the institute to more than $1 billion.

"The pandemic has shown us that prioritizing science, innovation, and research is one of the greatest investments we can make in our future," said Eric Schmidt, who serves on the Broad Institute board. "Much like Eli and Edye Broad saw the potential in creating the Broad Institute, Wendy and I believe this center has the promise to create a new field of science that could benefit human health in ways we can't even begin to imagine. The Broad Institute is uniquely fertile ground for cultivating a center of excellence in this new field. Beginning with its origins in the human genome project and its extension into statistical genetics and single-cell genomics, the Broad Institute has excelled at connecting the world's best scientists and software engineers and equipping them with the right tools to seek answers to questions previously thought impossible."