Bill Ackman’s $400 million brain institute was inspired by his daughter—and built outside elite universities, which he says are losing talent

Bill Ackman and his wife Neri Oxman are launching a $400 million neuroscience and longevity institute called the Ackman Oxman Institute (AOI) in Manhattan. The project is partly driven by Oxman's mother's Alzheimer's diagnosis and partially inspired by the shift in power in the scientific community, with Ackman noting universities have become less attractive due to campus politics, antisemitism, and declining funding.

The AOI will focus on transforming scientific discoveries into treatments, rather than producing academic papers, and aims to speed up the process from research to cures. The institute will have a strong clinical component, utilizing a nearly vacant 400,000-square-foot biotech facility on Manhattan's West Side, which could expand to 680,000 square feet with additional construction.

AOI will collaborate with Mount Sinai and other institutions, and Ackman expects to reveal a CEO and other senior leaders by October.