The Allen Discovery Centers are leadership-driven, compass-guided research centers, often created in partnership with major research organizations and universities. The Allen Discovery Centers offer a unique funding level and mechanism, allowing for a larger-scale impact in their field. The Centers embody our commitment to launching and fostering development of entire new fields in biology—with infinite potential to impact human knowledge and health.
We make patient, long-term commitments to these Centers, typically providing $10 million for the first four years, with the potential to expand in a second four year phase with an additional $10 million, matched by partner support, for a potential total scope of activity of $30 million.
The Allen Discovery Centers interact—with each other, with the Allen Distinguished Investigators, and with the larger community—through a rich network of events and associations. Allen Discovery Center leaders and teams are essential members of our creative, passionate community of explorers.
Allen Discovery Center for Cell Lineage Tracing at UW Medicine, Caltech, and University of Basel
The Allen Discovery Center for Cell Lineage Tracing at UW Medicine, Caltech, and University of Basel was announced in 2017 to generate global maps of cell lineage in complex organisms.
Leaders: Jay Shendure, M.D., Ph.D., Michael Elowitz, Ph.D., and Alex Schier, Ph.D.
Allen Discovery Center at Boston Children's Hospital and Harvard Medical School
The Allen Discovery Center for Human Brain Evolution at Boston Children’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School was announced in 2017 to understand how the human brain evolved and what makes it unique.
Leader: Christopher A. Walsh, M.D., Ph.D.
Allen Discovery Center at Tufts University
The Allen Discovery Center for Reading and Writing the Morphogenetic Code at Tufts University was announced in 2016 to read and write the code that controls organ shape in regeneration, growth, and cancer.
Leader: Michael Levin, Ph.D.
Allen Discovery Center at Stanford University
The Allen Discovery Center for Multiscale, Systems Modeling of Macrophage Infection at Stanford University was announced in 2016 to drive progress in cutting-edge cell systems modeling to understand the complex multicellular basis of infectious disease.
Leader: Markus Covert, Ph.D.