Broad Institute（Broad研究所）全称The Eli and Edythe L. Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard，建立于2004年，虽然仅仅只有16年的历史，但丝毫掩饰不了该研究机构在推动全球基础医学和转化医学方面所做出的巨大贡献。
图片引自：https://twitter.com/broadinstitute/status/1145696508416684033
Broad研究所是MIT与哈佛大学几十年合作的缩影之一。其中该研究所成立最重要的两个基石就是MIT的Whitehead研究所和哈佛大学的化学与细胞生物学研究所。
Whitehead成立于1982年，由实业家 Edwin C. “Jack” Whitehead所建立，隶属于MIT，创始主任为David Baltimore（1975年诺贝尔生理或医学奖得主，特别推荐丨David Baltimore的退休时刻），在他的牵线下， Harvey Lodish（主任巴尔的摩的大学室友）、MIT的 Robert Weinberg、康奈尔的Gerald Fink、汉堡大学的 Rudolf Jaenisch（致敬Rudolf Jaenisch丨转基因工程小鼠的四十六载）成为了Whitehead的创始成员。随后，Whitehead推出了Whitehead Fellows计划，加速孵育和推动有前途的年轻科研工作者（其中下文提到的Broad研究所主任Eric Lander在Broad之前也是Whitehead的会员之一）。
Whitehead在成立不到十年，即成为分子生物学和遗传学领域全球顶级研究机构。拿一个例子来说，2000年6月公布的人类基因组计划有三分之一出自于Whitehead。二十世纪第一个十年，Whitehead科学家发表的论文对分子生物学和遗传学的影响要比美国Top15研究型大学和生命科学研究所中的任何一本书的影响更大。自2009年以来，Whitehead研究所已四次被《科学家》杂志评为美国最佳博士后工作场所。目前Whitehead共有17名会员，其中两名成员（Rudolf Jaenisch，2010和Robert Weinberg，1997）是美国国家科学奖得主；十人当选为美国国家科学院院士；另有四人当选为国家医学科学院院士；四位是霍华德·休斯医学研究所（HHMI）的研究员，这十七名会员有兴趣的读者可Google搜索进一步阅读。
2002-2003年，为创建一个开放，协作，跨学科并且能够组织任何规模项目的新组织，在慈善家Broad夫妇的赞助下，计划在MIT、哈佛、Whitehead、哈佛附属医院中开始成立一个新的机构，即2004年成立的Broad Institute，Eric Lander担任创始主任。据公开资料显示，Broad夫妇在Broad Institute成立之初捐赠了1亿美金，2005年Broad夫妇又追加捐赠了1亿美金，2008年Broad夫妇再次捐赠了4亿美金使得Broad Institute成为永久性的机构。2013年，他们又增加了1亿美金用于Broad Institute的第二个十年的研究（共计7亿美金）。
Broad Institute目前拥有15名核心成员（实验室位于Broad研究所，国内的清华-北大生命科学联合中心虽然集中了两校生命科学与基础医学领域的最优势力量，但是该中心为虚体机构，没有专职核心成员）和195名准会员（实验室位于相关医院或者大学）。这15名核心成员分别是：Paul Blainey、Todd Golub、Myriam Heiman、Deborah Hung、Steven Hyman、Eric Lander（Broad现主任）、David R. Liu、Aviv Regev、Stuart Schreiber、Edward Scolnick、张锋、王潇（博士毕业于芝加哥大学何川教授实验室从事RNA修饰相关研究，2018年还获得过国内的“求是杰出青年学者奖”）、Ramnik Xavier、Morgan Sheng、William Sellers。
Broad研究所主要的研究领域之一即是基因组学（与其前身是Whitehead研究所的基因组研究中心有关）。其主任Eric Lander更是一直在推动基因组学的发展，并且是人类基因组学的负责人之一。17名核心成员中的绝大部分也是关注于基因组学。
2012年，CRISPR技术迅速蹿红，成为ZFN、TALEN之后最有前景的基因编辑技术。2016年1月14日，Broad主任Eric Lander在Cell杂志上发表文章The Heroes of CRISPR。此文一出，即引起了不少人的吐槽，同时鉴于彼时专利之争如火如荼，有人指出某些研究人员被边缘化，也指出这篇文章有利益冲突。甚至文章中当事人, George Church都有抱怨文中提到他的名字次数太多（正文中出现8次，张锋的名字出现次数更多，正文中有16次），实验室的博士生和博士后是最大的贡献者。尽管Eric Lander在事后有所澄清，但是总逃不脱这些嫌疑。
有趣的是，随后，2016年7月20日，Nature发表了文章The unsung heroes of CRISPR肯定了在CRISPR过程中博士生和博士后的贡献。
花开两朵，各表一枝。Broad研究所的核心成员之一Aviv Regev是计算生物领域的大牛之一，是人类细胞图谱研究最重要的领导者（目前发表在CNS上众多单细胞图谱的工作都有她的身影） ，2019年成为美国科学院院士，同时也是HHMI研究员。2016年，Aviv主导推出了“国际人体细胞图谱计划（Human Cell Atlas）”，该计划准备对人体中所有的细胞进行分类和单细胞测序。该项目称得上是目前生命科学领域最重要的项目之一了。
Aviv Regev，图片来源：https://www.broadinstitute.org/bios/aviv-regev
有坊间传言，Aviv Regev将是Eric Lander退休后的下一任Broad研究所所长（她2003年在Weizmann Institute of Science博士毕业之后就建立实验开始独立研究，是Broad招聘的第一个PI，2014年入选HHMI）。但是很突然的是，5月11日，1971年出生的Aviv Regev将加入Genentech，成为gRED的新任负责人，并将于2020年8月1日成为扩大后的罗氏公司执行委员会成员，据来自Genentech内部的一些消息，该公司一些员工对于Aviv的到来表示很惊讶。Aviv在Broad的实验室也将在2021年夏天关闭。那么，下一任主任会是谁？会是张锋吗？
Aviv Regev，图片来源：https://sqonline.ucsd.edu/2019/01/a-glimpse-into-the-struggles-of-women-in-science/
在Aviv突然被宣布加入Genentech之后，Broad的现任所长Eric Lander给所有的成员发了一封很长的邮件，邮件全文如下：
I’m writing today to share the bittersweet news that, after 14 years at the Broad Institute, Aviv Regev will be taking up an extraordinary opportunity to influence biomedicine. She has accepted the position of Executive Vice President of Genentech Research and Early Development, and a member of the Roche Extended Corporate Executive Committee reporting to the CEO of Roche.
This is one of the most influential roles in the pharmaceutical industry, with the opportunity to make transformative change in therapeutic development.
Aviv will continue at the Broad until August 1, when she will officially assume the role at Genentech. She will continue to travel back and forth to maintain her lab activities at the Broad for another year, until summer 2021. She also plans to have a lab at Genentech.
Aviv was not looking for a new position. She had been clear that there was simply no place in academic science that she would want to be other than the Broad Institute.
The offer to be one of the senior leaders of Roche and Genentech came as a surprise, but it offered the opportunity to do something extraordinary — shape the entire therapeutic portfolio of one of the world’s best biopharma firms.
Aviv’s departure is a great loss for the Broad community, but I am thrilled for her to have this amazing opportunity.
Aviv is a force of nature.
She was the first faculty member recruited after the formation of the Broad Institute, which she joined in 2006 after running a computational biology lab as Fellow at the Bauer Center at Harvard.
Over the next fourteen years, Aviv has had an extraordinary impact on the science in the Broad community — propelling advances in both experimental and computational biology:
She pioneered the creation of methods for single-cell biology, making it possible to read out and interpret gene expression in individual cells.
Starting with an initial paper reporting single-cell RNA sequencing of 18 cells, she has led a revolution that has touched every area of biology at Broad and around the world.
At the Broad, she founded the Klarman Cell Observatory, which has become the leading nexus for creativity advances in the methodology and application of cell circuits, single-cell biology, and tissue biology.
In parallel, she has taken on the analytical challenge of extracting deep biological insights from the massive amounts of data generated by single-cell biology — drawing on the frontiers of data science and machine learning.
She amplified the impact through her work to form the Human Cell Atlas, an international collaboration to understand all cell types in the human body that now involves more than 1,100 institutions in 71 countries.
She has also built strong ties between Broad and Israel, including with the Broad-ISF Partnership.
Aviv has also played a central role in the Broad’s culture of mentorship. She has led a thriving lab, training dozens of postdocs and graduate students who now pursue independent academic careers as leaders in their own areas. As Chair of the Faculty, Aviv has helped to support the extended Broad faculty. In less formal but numerous ways, she has served as a mentor and sounding board for so many people at all levels.
She has also been a member of the Executive Leadership Team, guiding our most important institutional decisions.
Finally, she has been such a tremendous friend and colleague to me.
As hard as it is to contemplate the Broad without her, both Aviv and I know that the Broad community will use the transition as an opportunity to further strengthen our community — with Broadies stepping up to contribute scientific vision and institutional leadership.
Aviv and I are committed to ensuring the long-term success of the activities she has led. In particular, the Klarman Cell Observatory and its remarkable capabilities and community around single-cell and tissue biology will continue as an essential part of the Broad, led by deeply engaged champions. With their leadership, KCO will remain a vibrant and thriving community for many years to come. Aviv will also continue to co-chair the Human Cell Atlas Initiative, and Broad will remain as dedicated as ever to the ambitious international effort.
I am grateful to Aviv for her commitment to ensuring that the Broad only grows stronger and for her eagerness to remain engaged with the Broad community in the months and years ahead.
It’s hard to convey news about transitions in the midst of the pandemic, with many Broadies working round the clock on the scientific response and without the ability to get together.
We will, however, have a chance to celebrate Aviv — either in person or virtually — before August.
For now, I hope you will join me in congratulating Aviv on this new challenge and in thanking her for all that she has done.
参考新闻：https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2020/05/11/2030716/0/en/Changes-to-the-Roche-Enlarged-Corporate-Executive-Committee.html
