Mrs. William McCormick Blair, Jr. has been an advocate for biomedical research and global public health for over five decades. Lots 28-30 are being sold to benefit the Deeda Blair Research Initiative Fund for Disorders of the Brain, which was created in memory of Mrs. Blair’s son, William McCormick Blair, III, who was diagnosed with bipolar illness, and was lost to suicide. The organization grants unrestricted funding to innovative scientists at the cutting-edge of medical research, providing the freedom and flexibility to pursue creative new ideas. Although the focus of the program is mental illness, it may help provide a wider understanding of the brain and of its other diseases. The program will be administered by the Foundation for the National Institutes of Health.

Mrs. Blair currently serves as Secretary and Director of the Foundation for the National Institutes of Health and Co-Chair of the Harvard Aids Initiative International Advisory Council. She also serves on the board of NEXT for Autism. She is Vice President and Director Emeritus of the Albert and Mary Lasker Foundation and worked closely with Mrs. Lasker on the Conquest of Cancer, the National High Blood Pressure Campaign, and the Lasker Awards for 35 years. Previously, she served on the board of Scripps Research Institute from 1996 to 2009; the Board of the American Cancer Society, on the Research Committee for more than 12 years. Mrs. Blair’s professional career has included serving as a senior advisor at Sandoz, which later became Novartis, from 1987 to 2005, and HealthCare Ventures, LLC, where she advised twenty of its early stage startups. Additionally, she was an advisor for Alexandria Real Estate Equities from 2011 to 2015, focused on the organization of summit conferences on Oncology, Neuroscience and Medical Research Philanthropy.