Legislation to create megafund for rare diseases builds on Professor Lo’s research

Sloan Professor Andrew Lo, co-director of the CFP and director of the Laboratory for Financial Engineering, saw his pioneering work on how financial engineering could revolutionize funding for translational medical research take an important step forward this week, with the introduction of the Rare Disease (RaD) Fund Act of 2015 (H.R. 3731). According to a press release from the bill’s sponsors, the legislation would allow the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to establish a privately owned and operated investment fund for rare diseases therapeutics. “Although this is just the first of many steps before the bill becomes law, it brings much-needed attention to the lack of funding for early stage translational medicine, and also highlights the potential impact that CFP research can have.”