From the Managing Director

As one of the primary drivers of thought-leading biomedical research at U-M, the Taubman Institute is a lean and mostly “virtual” organization that is structured to maximize the scientific impact of our funding and other support. 

Since its inception in 2007, the institute has accelerated the research of more than 70 individual physician-researchers with financial grants, project management guidance and the facilitation of teams and collaborations both within Michigan Medicine and with external partners. 

The institute also promotes team science via our Taubman Institute Innovation Program, which has expanded the scope of our grants to include multi-disciplinary teams, and through technology grants aimed at cultivating tools that will be useful to broader scientific inquiries.

Our primary measure of “return on investment” is, in concert with Alfred Taubman’s goal, the alleviation of human suffering. Speeding new hope to patients is our mission. 

However, we are mindful of stewarding the endowment with which the Taubman Institute has been entrusted, as well as the ongoing gifts large and small from generous individuals who are inspired by Mr. Taubman’s vision. 

When possible, we seek to assist the Taubman Scholars in creating programs that will attract additional investment, amplifying the good work made possible by philanthropy.  For example, by conservative estimate, projects boosted with Taubman Institute support have gone on to garner approximately $60 million in outside grant funding since 2017. 

We also foster the community of Taubman Scholars via regular chalk talks, where our researchers critique one another’s scientific inquiries and offer suggestions and support. 

Our public outreach includes scientific symposia and events such as “Strolling Science,” at which our Taubman Scholars gave their time to meet with members of the public and explain the latest scientific discovery in areas ranging from depression to dementia to the diagnostic potential of wearable devices.

The Taubman Institute champions careers via our support of leadership training, executive coaching and networking for women and people of color in the academic community. 

And, crucially, our Taubman Scholars mentor the next generation of clinician-scientists through regular gatherings with U-M’s Medical Scientist Training Program (MSTP), a rigorous eight-year program whose learners emerge with both MD and PhD degrees, fully trained as doctors and researchers. 

Thank you for your interest in the work of the Taubman Institute. 

Grace Wu, MS, was appointed Managing Director of the Taubman Institute in August, 2017. She holds a BA from the University of Michigan and a master’s degree in Organizational Leadership and Administration from Concordia University.

Since joining the University of Michigan, Ms. Wu has held positions in administration, grants management and organizational management at the A. Alfred Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning, and at Michigan Medicine. Most recently, she served as administrator for the Metabolomics and Obesity Center, organizing the activities of the MMOC as well as the NIH grants within the MMOC umbrella, the Regional Metabolomics Resource Core, the Nutrition Obesity Research Center, the Children’s Health Exposure Analysis Resource and Molecular Transducers of Physical Activity.