1979
Heritage Provider Network founded
Dr. Richard Merkin establishes the predecessor organization that grows into HPN — one of the country’s largest physician-owned integrated delivery systems.
Home / About / Philanthropy & Research
Philanthropy & ResearchHeritage’s commitment goes beyond care.
For more than four decades, Heritage and the Merkin family have invested in the institutions, researchers, and ideas that move medicine forward. Below: a timeline of milestones, the partner institutions involved, the prize challenges that have launched new research, and the education programs that build the next generation.
Meet the scholars & researchers we’ve funded →
See also: Profile of Dr. Richard Merkin →
A four-decade legacy
Milestones in Heritage research, education, and philanthropy.
From founding HPN in 1979 to this year’s Merkin Prize in Biomedical Technology, the through-line is a long-term investment in the people and institutions doing the most important work in medicine.
1990
HDMG Senior Expo
Community health outreach begins at High Desert Medical Group’s annual senior health fair — a model HPN groups still run today.
2003
FasterCures co-founded
Dr. Merkin co-founds FasterCures (a center of the Milken Institute) to accelerate the development of treatments for prostate cancer, breast cancer, melanoma, and other diseases.
2004
Alliance for College-Ready Schools
Long-running support of public charter schools across Los Angeles begins.
2004
United Friends of the Children
Sustained support for United Friends of the Children, providing services for foster youth in Los Angeles.
2005
Richard Merkin Middle School founded
A free, public charter school delivering academic excellence and college-readiness for a traditionally underserved population in Los Angeles.
2005
Prostate Cancer Foundation
Founding member and sponsor of the Heritage Medical Research Institute Young Investigators Program at the Prostate Cancer Foundation.
2006
Heritage Medical Research Institute
HMRI is established to support translational medical research at leading academic institutions.
HMRI
2006
Merkin Family Foundation established
The Merkin Family Foundation begins its decades-long pattern of supporting biomedical technology, research, education, and the institutions doing that work.
Merkin Family Foundation
2008
Heritage Sierra Medical Group joins HPN
The federation expands into the Antelope Valley and Santa Clarita Valley.
2010
Cal State Los Angeles scholarships
Direct scholarship funding for local students at Cal State LA begins.
2011
Johns Hopkins · Brain Sciences Initiative
The Richard Merkin Initiative is established at the Johns Hopkins Brain Sciences Institute, expanding the Hopkins relationship beyond the Peripheral Neuropathy Center.
2011
XPRIZE Foundation collaboration
Heritage joins the XPRIZE community, drawing inspiration from incentivized challenge prizes for healthcare innovation.
2011
Johns Hopkins · Peripheral Neuropathy Center
The Merkin Peripheral Neuropathy and Nerve Regeneration Center is funded at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine.
April 2012
Broad Institute · Merkin Institute Fellows
The Merkin Family Foundation pledges to fund the next generation of scientists at the Broad Institute. The fellowship would later include CRISPR pioneer Feng Zhang (2012/2013).
2012
Broad Institute · Stem Cell Research
The Richard Merkin Foundation for Stem Cell Research is established at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard.
2011
Discovery of lincRNAs
The Merkin-funded stem-cell program at the Broad helps reveal large intergenic non-coding RNAs (lincRNAs) — a new class of genes that regulate cellular function (Mitchell Guttman, John Rinn, and colleagues).
2012
$3M Heritage Health Prize Challenge launches
A global incentivized data-mining competition seeking a fundamental breakthrough in predicting future hospitalizations — aimed at the country’s estimated $40 billion in avoidable hospitalizations.
April 2013
Heritage / Fresenius Medical Care
Joint-venture partnership with Fresenius Medical Care announced, expanding coordinated care for renal patients.
Fresenius
April 2013
Care Transformation Prize Series
Launched in partnership with the Bipartisan Policy Center and The Advisory Board Company — a national contest to address the most daunting data problems in healthcare delivery.
June 2013
Datapalooza · Team PowerDot wins $500,000
Mid-competition leader of the Heritage Health Prize Challenge takes home an interim award at the Datapalooza announcement.
Oct 2013
UCLA Medical Visionary Award
Dr. Richard Merkin is honored by the UCLA David Geffen School of Medicine for sustained contributions to biomedical research.
2013
UCLA · Neural Regeneration Foundation
The Richard Merkin Foundation for Neural Regeneration is established at UCLA, alongside the Richard Merkin Fellowships in Nano-Neuroscience.
Nov 2013
Heritage-DREAM Breast Cancer Network Challenge
In partnership with the National Cancer Institute, a network-inference challenge for breast cancer announces its best performers.
2013
Focused Ultrasound Foundation · Merkin Fellows
Ongoing support of the Merkin Fellows Program funding two full-time researchers annually, plus sponsored research in Taiwan on ultrasound combination therapies for cancer.
2014
HPN expansion to Arizona
HPN extends its coordinated-care model into the Phoenix metro and Maricopa County, growing the federation footprint beyond California.
Mar 2014
Brookings Institution · Merkin Initiative
The Merkin Initiative on Payment and Clinician Reform launches at Brookings, with Dr. Darshak Sanghavi as the inaugural Merkin Fellow.
Jun 2014
HPN-Rite Aid partnership
Joint venture expanding member access to clinical services through Rite Aid’s retail health footprint.
Rite Aid
Sept 2014
HPN-NIH Cancer Genomics Challenge
Heritage launches a prize challenge in partnership with the NIH Office of Media Relations, leveraging cancer genomics data.
2015
USC Keck · Emergency & Tropical Medicine fellowships
Permanently endowed Richard Merkin Fellowships in Emergency and Tropical Medicine at the Keck School of Medicine at USC.
2015
USC Keck · Assistant Professorship Program
The Richard N. Merkin M.D. Assistant Professorship Program funds early-career professors working on translational research at USC Keck.
Jul 2015
USC Keck · Regenerative Medicine
The Merkin Family Foundation Fund for Regenerative Medicine is established at the Keck School of Medicine at USC.
2015
Caltech · Heritage Research Institute
The Heritage Research Institute for the Advancement of Medicine and Science begins funding professors across many scientific disciplines on translational research.
2015
Schwarzman Scholars · Tsinghua
Scholarship funding established at the Schwarzman Scholars Program in Beijing — a one-year master’s program at Tsinghua University training the next generation of global leaders.
2015
Singularity University
Scholarship funding for emerging leaders at Singularity University, working at the intersection of exponential technology and global challenges.
Mar 2016
City of Hope · Two endowed professorships
Dr. Merkin establishes a fund for two fully endowed professorships at City of Hope: the Heritage Professorship in Immunotherapy and the Heritage Professorship in Gene Therapy.
2016
UC Berkeley · Innovative Genomics Institute
Funding for Nobel laureate Dr. Jennifer Doudna’s Innovative Genomics Institute, including CRISPR gene-editing research and disease-treatment programs for sickle cell.
2016
Base editing invented
David R. Liu — holder of the Richard Merkin Professorship at the Broad — develops base editing, the first method to make precise single-letter genome edits without cutting DNA.
2016
FIRST LEGO League Global Innovation Award
Sponsored prize recognizing student innovation in robotics, science, and engineering.
2016
Heritage Healthcare Innovation Awards
Annual awards launched in NY, in partnership with Crain’s NY Business Custom Division, honoring innovative metropolitan healthcare leaders.
2016
National Multiple Sclerosis Society
Sustained support for the National MS Society, advancing research and patient care.
Sept 2017
Heritage Institute of Clinical Studies at USC
HPN’s population-health certification program is established at USC.
Feb 2018
HPN Santa Clarita Urgent Care
A new clinic and urgent care center opens in Santa Clarita, expanding HPN’s coordinated-care footprint.
May 2018
Tommy Lasorda Leadership Award
Dr. Merkin receives the inaugural Tommy Lasorda Leadership Award at the Milken Institute Global Gourmet Games benefit.
2018
HPN expansion to New York
Heritage’s NY footprint takes shape through HealthCare Partners IPA — primary care and specialty coverage across Queens, Brooklyn, and Nassau.
Sept 2018
APG Elite Award · 11 years running
Heritage Provider Network achieves the highest rankings from America’s Physician Groups Excellence Survey for the eleventh consecutive year.
Oct 2018
HPN-Humana Medicare Advantage
Humana and HPN team up to offer a better patient experience for Humana Medicare Advantage members in California.
Feb 2019
4th Annual Heritage Healthcare Innovation Awards
Heritage and Crain’s NY Business announce the judges for the 4th Annual Innovation Awards, reinforcing Heritage’s standing in NY-area healthcare innovation.
Apr 2019
Western Governors University
The Merkin Family Foundation funds the creation of a new Bachelor of Science in Health Service Coordination at WGU, plus multiple managed-care and population-health certificates.
2021
Broad · Transformative Technologies in Healthcare
The Merkin Institute for Transformative Technologies in Healthcare, led by Dr. David Liu (CRISPR base/prime editing pioneer), is established at the Broad Institute.
2021
USC · Schaeffer Center sponsorship
Primary sponsorship of the USC Schaeffer Center’s research programs on the future of medicine and hospitals in a post-pandemic world.
2021
Stanford · Longaker / Chan Laboratory
Direct support of the Longaker / Chan Laboratory at Stanford for promising research on the regrowth of human cartilage.
2019
Prime editing invented
David R. Liu’s lab develops prime editing, a versatile genome-editing method capable of correcting most disease-causing mutations. Base and prime editing are now in more than 20 clinical trials.
Apr 2022
Caltech · Merkin Center for Mathematics
The Richard N. Merkin Center for Pure and Applied Mathematics opens at Caltech.
May 2022
Merkin Prize in Biomedical Technology launch
A new annual prize created by the Merkin Family Foundation and administered by the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard.
2023
Caltech · Women in STEM (WiSTEM)
The Caltech Women in STEM (WiSTEM) program funds outreach, mentorship, and support for women in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.
2023
Caltech · STEM Teacher / Mentor Visitation
The Richard Merkin STEM Teacher / Mentor Visitation Program brings teachers and mentors to Caltech for sustained STEM-education engagements.
2023
Caltech · Travel Grants
The Richard Merkin Travel Grants fund research-related travel for Caltech students and faculty across the institute’s scientific disciplines.
2023
Caltech · Startup Scholars
The Richard Merkin Startup Scholars Program supports Caltech researchers commercializing scientific work.
2023
Broad · Richard N. Merkin building
The Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard’s headquarters in Cambridge, MA is dedicated as the Richard N. Merkin building.
Oct 2023
Inaugural Merkin Prize · Marvin Caruthers
For developing automated technology for quickly synthesizing DNA — a foundational element of modern molecular biology.
Dec 2023
First CRISPR therapy approved
The first CRISPR/Cas9-based medicine is approved for sickle-cell disease — built on genome-editing tools pioneered by Merkin Institute Fellow Feng Zhang, and CRISPR research the Merkin Family Foundation backed at both the Broad and UC Berkeley.
Nov 2023
Healthcare Ratings Soar (NCQA Elite)
HPN achieves NCQA Elite status across all 9 affiliated medical groups in California.
2024
NY Academy of Medicine honors Dr. Merkin
Recognition for innovative healthcare initiatives benefiting all New Yorkers.
Oct 2024
F. William Studier · 2024 Merkin Prize
For T7 expression technology used to produce millions of doses of COVID-19 vaccines.
2025
Merkin Prize · CAR T-cell pioneers
Carl June, Bruce Levine, Isabelle Rivière, and Michel Sadelain receive the 2025 Merkin Prize for developing CAR T-cell therapy — now treating more than 45,000 cancer patients worldwide.
2026
Merkin Prize · Cochlear-implant pioneers
Graeme Clark, Erwin and Ingeborg Hochmair, Michael Merzenich, and Blake Wilson receive the 2026 Merkin Prize for the modern cochlear implant — used by more than a million people worldwide to access sound and spoken language.
Sixty-three milestones across four-plus decades. The timeline continues to grow as additional named programs and grants are documented from the Heritage Medical Research Institute and Merkin Family Foundation reports.
Medical research
Translational research at the country’s leading institutions.
Through the Heritage Medical Research Institute, the Merkin Family Foundation, and direct giving, Heritage funds the work that turns laboratory discoveries into treatments.
Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard
The Broad Institute is based out of the Richard N. Merkin building in Cambridge, MA. Programs include the Richard Merkin Foundation for Stem Cell Research, the Merkin Institute Fellows Program (which notably funded Feng Zhang in 2012/2013), the Merkin Institute for Transformative Technologies in Healthcare led by Dr. David Liu, and the Merkin Prize in Biomedical Technology chaired by Nobel laureate Dr. Harold Varmus.
California Institute of Technology
The Heritage Research Institute for the Advancement of Medicine and Science at Caltech funds professors working across many scientific disciplines on translational science. The Richard N. Merkin Center for Pure and Applied Mathematics brings together the Richard Merkin Professorships in Mathematics and is home to the American Institute of Math. Other Caltech programs: the Women in STEM (WiSTEM) program, the Richard Merkin STEM Teacher / Mentor Visitation Program, the Richard Merkin Travel Grants, and the Richard Merkin Startup Scholars Program.
Johns Hopkins Medicine
The Merkin Peripheral Neuropathy and Nerve Regeneration Center at Johns Hopkins, and the Richard Merkin Initiative at the Johns Hopkins Brain Sciences Institute.
Keck School of Medicine at USC
The Merkin Family Foundation Fund for Regenerative Medicine, the permanently endowed Richard Merkin Fellowships in Emergency and Tropical Medicine, the Richard N. Merkin M.D. Assistant Professorship Program for young professors working on translational research, and primary sponsorship of the USC Schaeffer Center’s research on the future of medicine and hospitals in a post-pandemic world.
UCLA
The Richard Merkin Foundation for Neural Regeneration, the Richard Merkin Fellowships in Nano-Neuroscience, and direct support for many translational R&D projects.
UC Berkeley
Funding for Nobel laureate Dr. Jennifer Doudna’s Integrative Genomics Institute, including CRISPR gene-editing research, delivery mechanisms for CRISPR edits, and specific disease-treatment programs for sickle cell.
Stanford University
Direct support of the Longaker / Chan Laboratory for promising research on the regrowth of human cartilage.
City of Hope
Two fully endowed professorships: the Heritage Professorship in Immunotherapy and the Heritage Professorship in Gene Therapy.
Focused Ultrasound Foundation
Ongoing support of the Merkin Fellows Program funding two full-time researchers annually, plus sponsored research in Taiwan on ultrasound combination therapies for cancer treatment.
Innovation prizes & challenges
Public competitions that move ideas faster.
Inspired in part by the X-Prize Foundation, Heritage has launched and sponsored prize challenges that mobilize global communities of problem solvers around the most important questions in healthcare.
$3M Heritage Health Prize (2011)
A global incentivized data-mining competition seeking a fundamental breakthrough in predicting future hospitalizations — aimed at the estimated $40 billion in avoidable hospitalizations in the United States. Created an online community of problem solvers around predictive healthcare.
Heritage Healthcare Innovation Awards
Honoring innovative NY metropolitan area healthcare leaders.
FIRST LEGO League Global Innovation Award
Sponsored prize recognizing student innovation in robotics, science, and engineering.
Go Viral to Improve Health Prize
Prize challenge with the Institute of Medicine and the National Academy of Sciences.
XPRIZE involvement
Ongoing support and engagement with XPRIZE-style challenges in healthcare innovation.
Merkin Prize in Biomedical Technology
Established 2022 in partnership with the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard. Annual award to recognize novel technologies that have significantly improved human health.
Breast cancer and nanotechnology challenges
Numerous additional prize challenges focused on breast cancer research and nanotechnology applications in medicine.
Education & community
Investing in the people doing the work.
Beyond the major research initiatives, Heritage funds education, scholarships, and community institutions that build the next generation of clinicians, researchers, and leaders.
Richard Merkin Middle School
A free, public charter school delivering academic excellence and a college-readiness focus for a traditionally underserved population in Los Angeles.
Alliance for College-Ready Schools
Supporting public charter schools across Los Angeles.
The Brookings Institution
The Merkin Initiative to Study Payment and Clinician Reform at Brookings in Washington, DC.
FasterCures (Milken Institute)
Founding member and sponsor. Accelerating the development of life-saving treatments and contributing to COVID-19 vaccine and treatment tracking.
Western Governors University
Funding the creation of a new Bachelor of Science in Health Service Coordination and multiple certificates for specialization in managed care and population-health programs.
Schwarzman Scholars (Tsinghua University)
Scholarship funding at the Schwarzman Scholars Program in Beijing.
Singularity University
Scholarship funding for emerging leaders working at the intersection of technology and global challenges.
Cal State Los Angeles
Direct scholarship funding for local students.
Prostate Cancer Foundation
Founding member and sponsor of the Heritage Medical Research Institute Young Investigators Program.
In the news
Recent recognition and announcements.
CAR T-cell therapy · 45,000+ patients
2025 Merkin Prize awarded to CAR-T pioneers
Scalable protein production · COVID vaccines
F. William Studier receives the 2024 Merkin Prize
Automated DNA synthesis · molecular biology foundations
Marvin Caruthers receives the inaugural Merkin Prize
HPN’s population-health certification at USC
Heritage Institute of Clinical Studies honors 2023 graduating class
Richard N. Merkin Center for Pure and Applied Mathematics
Caltech launches Merkin Center backed by HPN’s founder
NY Academy of Medicine gala