Jeff Green and Steve Katelman

Jeff Green and Steve Katelman have known each other for nearly 20 years. Their friendship began when they discovered they had similar views on how to improve the digital advertising ecosystem. They grew even closer when they discovered they were both devilishly competitive.

“That started one time when we were at an industry event financed by one of my competitors, and there was somebody walking around with buckets of cheese,” Green recalled. “Then Steve asked me, ‘How many of those do you think you can eat?’ And I said, ‘More than you.’”

“And so it began,” added Katelman.

OK, but who won that initial cheese-eating competition?

“I think normally when it involves food, we call it a draw before somebody calls the police,” Katelman said.

“I think that was one of the first draws—a less exciting draw was when we had the competition to see who could fit the most gumballs in their mouth,” Green said. “We called a truce at like 84 when somebody was about to choke.”

So what happens when two close friends team up to channel that competitive drive into a shared mission for the greater good? The potential to impact one of society’s biggest problems—neurodegenerative disease.

Steve and Jeff, circa 2014

In 2021, Green signed on to the Giving Pledge, a promise by some of the world’s wealthiest people to give most of their fortunes to charitable causes. “My target is more than 90 percent of my wealth,” Green wrote in his pledge letter. “But I will also give of my time, my most precious commodity, to allocate those funds deliberately, and to be personally engaged.”

Little did he know at the time how personally engaged he would become with one of his generous grants.

Green is the co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of The Trade Desk, a successful digital advertising software company. To facilitate his philanthropic efforts, he started DataPhilanthropy, a charitable giving organization focused on causes where impact can be measured and scaled with data. He appointed Katelman, an advertising executive who had recently retired from 25+ years at Omnicom, as a key part of it.

“It was taking up a lot of his time, and he wanted me to help him because he trusted me and saw that so many of my previous skills could be utilized,” Katelman said. “So, we’re giving away hundreds of millions of dollars to causes we believe can advance through technology, just like we did with the advertising industry.”

Katelman is 60 years old. For close to 10 years, he’s known he has Cerebral Autosomal Dominant Arteriopathy Subcortical Infarcts and Leukoencephalopathy, or CADASIL. It is an inherited brain disorder caused by a genetic mutation that affects the muscle walls in the brain’s arteries, affecting blood flow to the brain. CADASIL is often characterized by migraine headaches and multiple strokes that in some cases can lead to dementia. Other symptoms include cognitive deterioration, seizures, vision problems, and psychiatric problems such as severe depression and changes in behavior and personality. The disease affects people variably and it has no known cure and few effective symptomatic treatments.

Katelman discovered he had CADASIL when a half-sister he had never known called him out of the blue to tell him she had it. After years of chasing a diagnosis for her symptoms, she wanted to let any blood relatives know of her findings. She was trying to find out whether anyone on either side of her parents’ family had been tested for CADASIL or experienced any strokes. Not long before that, Katelman felt disoriented and experienced a headache while attending a music festival. An eventual test confirmed the diagnosis.

Katelman’s CADASIL doctor is Fanny Elahi, MD, PhD, Associate Professor of Neurology, Neuroscience, and Pathology, Molecular and Cell-Based Medicine at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and one of the world’s foremost specialists in the study of brain blood vessel abnormalities and associated degeneration of the brain’s white matter. When Dr. Elahi told him about her work with data and the latest technology, and her vision for the future, Katelman made the obvious connection.

Steve Katelman and Dr. Fanny Elahi

“I said, ‘I think I know a guy that can help,’” Katelman said. “I said, ‘Jeff, you know I have this condition,’ and just without hesitation, he said, ‘Just tell me what you need me to do.’ And then he met Fanny and they clicked, and there we are.”

In December 2024, Green pledged a transformative grant of $8 million to fund Dr. Elahi’s research by establishing a translational center dedicated to studying cerebral small-vessel diseases—a key contributor to neurodegenerative disease. The goal is to address the major gaps in the drug development pipeline for CADASIL and to develop an effective treatment. Green, Katelman, and Dr. Elahi view the effort as more of a collaboration than a financial transaction. Treatments for CADASIL could have broader societal impact, given the many features it shares with other age-related disorders that affect the brain’s blood vessels.

“I think there’s an opportunity for perfect synergies—where DataPhilanthropy is very focused on data, and this challenge is very conducive to data and AI,” Green said. “Fanny’s extremely committed and passionate enough to navigate the system that often seems to prevent progress. And then Steve’s openness and collaboration and evangelism—there are some outcomes that could be world-changing on this.”

Katelman had seen several other CADASIL doctors around the country before he discovered Dr. Elahi a few years ago, when a friend read something about Dr. Elahi’s work at the University of California, San Francisco. After the Icahn School recruited Dr. Elahi to join its faculty in 2022, Katelman continued to see her.

Dr. Elahi has put together a multi-disciplinary team of researchers and collaborating institutions that aims to enhance the understanding of CADASIL by using cutting-edge technologies and modeling approaches. She described Green’s grant as “essential” to her work as a physician-scientist.

Dr. Elahi and team

“I’ve always said that if I couldn’t do research, I wouldn’t be a neurologist,” said Dr. Elahi. “It’s incredibly difficult to diagnose someone with a disease that has no available treatment. But as a physician-scientist, every patient I see not only deepens my understanding of the disease—it also strengthens my resolve to find solutions. I went into this field to solve problems. Knowing that our work could one day change the lives of patients fuels everything we do—and this grant makes that future feel within reach.” What’s crucial to Dr. Elahi’s research is the flexibility this grant will provide. Studying CADASIL with the goal of developing a treatment requires the ability to fail fast and pivot—a Silicon Valley-style approach to innovation that resonates deeply with a tech entrepreneur like Green.

“I’m a big believer in people that are passionate and focused—it’s the only way that you can put up with all the red tape, all the blockers,” Green said. “I just saw in her a commitment to progress the research. ‘One way or another we’ll figure it out’ is an attitude you often don’t hear from doctors.”

The potentially profound impact of this grant—and this unique collaboration with Dr. Elahi and Mount Sinai—is not lost on Green, either.

“There’s a version of the future, where Steve unfortunately having this can change thousands or more lives, just because we are more aggressive in getting ahead of it,” Green said. “It’s unbelievable to be a part of something that can potentially do that. To me, there’s all these challenges of trust in so much philanthropy. And then this case, when we’re all going as fast as we can and [we’re] open to transparency and data but also open to failure—I think we have the best chance at having the biggest outcome. I’m super optimistic and just eager to hear about progress.”

Fortunately for Katelman, he has thus far experienced few symptoms beyond occasional dizziness, lightheadedness, and fatigue, particularly after airline travel. He, too, is enthusiastic about the possibilities of collaborating with Dr. Elahi and Mount Sinai.

“Ultimately, obviously, if we found a cure to prevent it—awesome, you know?” Katelman said. “I’ve had a very successful and well-awarded advertising career, but this would be the feather in my cap.”

Growing up in a small town south of Mexico City, Pablo Legorreta learned at an early age the importance of giving back to the community.

“I was fortunate to grow up with a mother who was very socially conscious and really instilled in me and my brother and sisters this notion that we were privileged in Mexico just by the virtue of having an education, having a roof over our heads,” Legorreta said.

His mother was involved with the Red Cross, and she would sometimes take Legorreta and his siblings to a Red Cross hospital to do volunteer work. This experience, which included doing odd jobs like painting walls, cleaning up, and collecting donations, left a lasting impression.

“When I saw that we were doing these things and that people were appreciating it and benefiting,” Legorreta said, “it made a big difference, and it’s been part of my life since I was a teenager.”

That awareness of social inequities along with an abiding sense to do something to address them, has shaped Legorreta’s life and work. He and the company he founded, Royalty Pharma, have demonstrated that commitment by making generous gifts to two initiatives at Mount Sinai: $20 million to the Institute for Health Equity Research (IHER) and $500,000 to the Center for Post-COVID Care.

Royalty Pharma, where Legorreta serves as Chief Executive Officer, advances life science innovation by providing much-needed capital to biopharma research institutions. Legorreta said the company’s success triggered the philanthropic impulse he had developed thanks to his family’s influence. From his view, supporting research institutions that are advancing medicine, striving to meet unmet medical needs, and improving people’s lives is not just a natural extension of Royalty Pharma’s business interests, but a worthwhile project in its own right.

“When I realized that the two main areas of focus for IHER were going to be trying to understand the disparity in access to health and the disparity in health outcomes, it seemed to me like those two things were really incredible purposes to actually try to get involved with,” Legorreta said.

Likewise, Legorreta personally knew people and had family members who were experiencing long-term difficulties from COVID, the complexities of which remain a mystery to medical science. But once he learned that Mount Sinai was creating a center designed specifically to study the effects of the virus, he saw an opportunity to make an impact.

“When I was talking with the senior administration at Mount Sinai, one of them shared with me this idea of creating a Center to try to initially just learn what is it, what is the long-term effects of this virus?” Legorreta said “There was a need to do a lot of research, also, to understand what treatments could be used, and then are there treatments that could be developed? When I heard about all of that I realized that it was also a very worthwhile cause. I thought it was another good thing for us to actually support at Mount Sinai.”

Royalty Pharma’s commitment to IHER, which was launched in May 2020, extends far beyond its generous financial support. The company and IHER have a collaborative relationship that also provides Mount Sinai with access to expensive data that Royalty Pharma purchases as part of its core business function, in addition to training on how to use that data, and—in some cases—time and effort that members of the Royalty Pharma team put in that extends beyond their work for the company.

“Money is important, and $20 million is a lot, but I think the contribution that the team here is doing, of time, is probably more valuable than the $20 million,” Legorreta said. “I just want to make that point.”

Sandy Balkin, Senior Vice President, Strategy & Analytics at Royalty Pharma, is most impressed by the IHER team’s commitment to not just identifying the problems with disparities in health care delivery and outcomes, but to finding actionable solutions.

“I got introduced to this, and like other people at Royalty Pharma, this has become a passion of ours,” Balkin said. “Everyone here is truly proud of our relationship with Mount Sinai, and being able to contribute our intellectual capital—however small it may be compared to the unbelievable intellectual capital that is sitting at Mount Sinai—makes us know that every piece of value that we can add to that process is contributing something. It really makes us feel that we really want to continue to do what we do, not only helping companies bring medicines to patients but also helping get patients to those medicines.”

Royalty Pharma also sponsors an annual symposium on equity at Mount Sinai that brings together experts from some of the top organizations around the country. Sometimes, giving back to the community also involves getting numerous communities to work together. It’s something Pablo Legorreta and Royalty Pharma know all too well.

“Because at the end of the day, the way we’re going to succeed in addressing a lot of these things is by having other top organizations like Mount Sinai collaborate,” Legorreta said. “Mount Sinai’s not going to be able to solve the problem for the entire nation, but if we have Mount Sinai and other similar medical institutions around the country working together, maybe we’ll make a big difference.”

About the Institute for Health Equity Research Launched in May 2020, IHER’s mission is to identify, interrogate, and combat health inequities by building a future that is more equitable for all communities, including those that are non-white, low-income, immigrant, uninsured, and LGBTQ+. The disproportionate impact of issues such as the COVID-19 pandemic on these populations has highlighted the need for more rigorous study to identify the root causes and magnitude of disparities, to devise and test innovative solutions, and to take concrete action in response to findings.

Renee and Bob Parsons

Upon his return from the Vietnam War, Bob Parsons battled post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) for decades—and while doing so, grew a small software business operating out of his basement into the powerhouse internet domain registrar and web hosting company GoDaddy. From humble beginnings to becoming an entrepreneurial billionaire, nothing came easy for Bob. He talks openly about his mental health struggles following the war, and how, by 2018, just a mention of the war could trigger him to cry. Time was not healing his wounds. As Bob recalls, “I couldn’t handle it. The longer time went on, the worse it got for me.” Around this time, he read the New York Times best-selling book How to Change Your Mind by Michael Pollan and a glimmer of hope appeared for him. Bob developed an interest in the scientific use of psychedelics to treat depression, anxiety, and other mental health conditions.

“My own battle with PTSD lasted for decades,” says Bob, United States Marine Corps Vietnam War veteran and co-founder of The Bob & Renee Parsons Foundation. “It was psychedelic-assisted therapy that finally brought me home after all those years, and even with the FDA’s recent decision, we’re digging in and funding more research because I have all the evidence I need—I know it works.”

Bob is referring to the 2024 decision by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to withhold approval for MDMA-assisted psychotherapy. While it would not be surprising if donors shied away from supporting this nascent scientific field, Bob and his wife Renee, who helped establish Mount Sinai’s psychedelic psychotherapy research center in 2021, recently made a second foundational gift of $5 million.

“We are hopeful that the innovative research and training being done at Mount Sinai will go on to transform the lives of veterans and others who endure debilitating mental health conditions,” says Renee. “Bob and I know firsthand the detrimental impacts of PTSD—not only on the individual but on the entire family. We remain committed to battling the stigma surrounding mental health and shining a light on such promising treatments.”

Bob and Renee have focused some of that light here at Mount Sinai. Under the direction of internationally acclaimed researcher Rachel Yehuda, PhD, the Center has expanded and moved to a new location, increasing capacity for therapy, research, and therapist training, with a primary focus on veterans. It is now being renamed The Parsons Research Center for Psychedelic Healing to acknowledge the couple’s deep commitment to improving the lives of veterans and others struggling with PTSD.

The Parsons Center

According to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, more than 17 veterans die by suicide each day on average. “New treatment options are desperately needed for the millions of people, both civilians and veterans, who have mood and anxiety disorders such as PTSD and major depression,” says Dennis S. Charney, MD, Anne and Joel Ehrenkranz Dean, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, and President for Academic Affairs, Mount Sinai Health System.

Adds Dr. Yehuda: “This is an existential moment for the field of psychedelic research in mental health, and The Bob & Renee Parsons Foundation is shining a light on a path forward. With their vision and commitment, and the continued generosity of our donors, we will meet the needs of the moment.”

Renee and Bob celebrating the publication of “Fire in the Hole!”

In his recently published memoir, Fire in the Hole! Bob shares how he turned his hardships into motivation, from his mother’s mental illness to his harrowing yet transformative experience in Vietnam. A poignant and humorous storyteller, Bob reminds us that true wealth is not solely measured in financial terms but in the kindness and generosity we share with others. He discusses his healing process and his decision to donate funds aimed at impacting PTSD. For Bob and other veterans, sharing their stories is a continuation of their military service, fulfilling the promise of the soldier’s creed: I will never leave a fallen comrade.

His journey is a testament to the power of the human spirit and the importance of giving back.