Background

The Allen Institute for Brain Science is an independent, nonprofit medical research organization dedicated to accelerating the understanding of how the human brain works in health and disease. Building on the traditions of large-scale scientific endeavors begun in the twentieth century, such as the Hubble Telescope, the Large Hadron Collider and the Human Genome Project, we are driving big science into the 21st century with a focus on the brain and with a clear purpose—to drive brain research forward, accelerating progress and enabling discoveries with real-world utility.

Our efforts are based on a disciplined approach, require multidisciplinary collaboration, incorporate innovative technology and use an open model of sharing data, tools and insights with the broader community to achieve the greatest impact. Based on this approach, we generate useful public resources used by researchers worldwide, drive technological and analytical advances, and make discoveries that address fundamental problems in brain science.

Launched in 2003 with a seed contribution from founder and philanthropist Paul G. Allen, the Allen Institute is supported by a diversity of government, foundation and private funds to enable its projects. Given the Institute's achievements, Mr. Allen committed an additional $300 million in 2012 for the first four years of a ten-year plan to further propel and expand the Institute's scientific programs, bringing his total commitment to date to $500 million.