A private equity firm has recently decided to provide financial support to a biological research lab at Harvard University, as well as launching a biotech company to develop new therapies for metabolic conditions. This move comes as Harvard faces significant budget cuts due to actions taken by the Trump administration, leading some university officials to see this unique partnership as a potential model for funding academic research moving forward.

Under this new agreement, İş Private Equity, a Turkish firm, has pledged $39 million to support the laboratory of Gökhan Hotamışlıgil, a professor specializing in genetics and metabolism at the T.H. Chan School of Public Health. Additionally, the firm, which is a part of Turkey's İşbank Group, has expressed interest in investing in any drug candidates that emerge from Hotamışlıgil's lab and are advanced into a new biotech company named Enlila.

While this investment may seem relatively small in the world of investment banking, it represents a significant source of funding at a time when the traditional model for financing scientific research is facing uncertainty.