2024 UHF Gala Journal - Flipbook - Page 12
Distinguished Community Service Award
Roderick Wong, MD
For founding the RTW Foundation to improve
the health of underserved populations and
advance health equity in New York City through
community initiatives and scientific research
In early 2020, Roderick Wong, MD, was preparing his newly formed nonprofit, RTW
Foundation, for its first grant cycle when the COVID-19 pandemic hit.
The foundation—the philanthropic arm of RTW Investments, Rod’s life science investment
and innovation firm—was founded in 2018 with the idea of funding research and the
development of medicines for neglected rare diseases the firm encountered in its
investment work around the globe.
But as COVID-19 ravaged communities across New York City, the team quickly agreed
to divert their first grant cycle to address the pandemic at home.
“It turned out to be one of the most impactful things to live through,” said Rod, who
chairs the foundation. He noted that his wife and RTW Foundation Board Member, Marti
Speranza Wong, first suggested the idea of a COVID response. “We had the feeling that
we did something meaningful in the city that we live in.”
That pivot became an important marker for RTW Foundation. Sparked in part by the
success of the first round of grants, the foundation developed two distinct focus areas:
Community Engagement and Ultrarare Disease Research.
Under the community engagement arm, the foundation awards up to $50,000 grants
to partners advancing health equity in New York City, specifically those addressing gaps
in care for communities of color, low-income families, recent immigrants, and other
underserved populations.
The project’s results speak for themselves. In two rounds of COVID response and recovery
grants, RTW Foundation grantees provided mental health support for more than 900
frontline health care workers, supported distribution of at least 11,500 COVID vaccines,
provided more than 70 families in temporary housing with remote learning support, and
helped more than 30 businesses in Chinatown stay afloat.
The foundation’s focus on health equity, access, and quality has continued in its
community grants post-COVID-19. In 2023, grantee projects included a RaisingHealth
Community Health Clinic Pop-up Program serving low-income immigrant families in
