$50 million gift from Allison & Roberto Mignone and family launches women’s health collaborative at medical center

Thanks to a visionary $50 million gift from the Allison and Roberto Mignone Family Foundation and a $10 million leadership gift from Kenneth C. Griffin, founder and CEO of Citadel and founder of Griffin Catalyst, NYU Langone announced the creation of the Mignone Women’s Health Collaborative, building upon the system’s exceptional healthcare services for women and deepening coordination between specialists who work together to treat women at every stage of life.

“Critical issues in women’s health have been underprioritized. As a mother of four daughters and a breast cancer survivor, I am proud to support NYU Langone’s bold, innovative approach to advancing women’s health,” said NYU Langone Overseer Allison Mignone, who gave the gift with her husband, Roberto A. Mignone, founder and president of Bridger Management, LLC, and also a vice chair of the NYU Langone Board of Trustees. “Our gift empowers NYU Langone to lead the way in transforming research, education, and patient care for women everywhere.”

Dr. Caren F. Behar and Dr. Elizabeth Comen, co-directors of Mignone Women’s Health Collaborative, explain what makes this new venture unique.

The NYU Langone Ambulatory Care Center East 53rd Street will now be known as the Mignone Women’s Health Collaborative. The collaborative brings together more than 125 expert providers across 20 key areas in women’s health, including preventive care, pregnancy support, midlife health, and fibroid care.

This critical initiative forges vital connections throughout the health system and helps to facilitate outstanding education and research in women’s health. The collaborative will add to the foundational work of the Joan H. Tisch Center for Women’s Health, established in 2011 as New York City’s premier comprehensive women’s health center.

“Women’s health has historically been full of gaps in care and knowledge. The Mignones’ extraordinary support and Ken Griffin’s gift will increase our ability to approach women with care that understands their bodies and experiences,” said Dr. Behar. Credit: NYU Langone Staff

As part of its mission to shape a future where every woman has support to make the most informed health decisions, the collaborative will also help establish new coursework in women’s health at NYU Grossman School of Medicine, examining ways medicine can better address specific women’s needs.

Additionally, the collaborative plans to offer advanced imaging MRIs for muscle and fat composition, longevity, and cancer screenings, and the enrollment of high-risk patients in promising clinical studies.

“The Mignone Women’s Health Collaborative will allow us, through our integrated system, to offer even better treatment for women at every stage,” said Robert I. Grossman, MD, CEO of NYU Langone Health and dean of NYU Grossman School of Medicine.

“Overlaid with NYU Langone’s signature quality and bolstered by these generous gifts, the collaborative is a meaningful step toward closing the gap in women’s health.”

Griffin’s support will allow NYU Langone to establish the Griffin Healthspan and Vitality Center within the collaborative. The Griffin Center will target overall well-being, longevity, and quality of life for women, offering carefully coordinated assessment, personalized intervention, innovative services, and advanced diagnostics.

“Through their compassionate, personalized care and groundbreaking research, NYU Langone’s medical professionals are leading the way in advancing women’s health and wellness,” Griffin said.

“I am honored to join the Mignone family in expanding access to cutting-edge programs for women in important areas such as physical vitality, movement science, and mental and emotional health—helping people live longer, healthier lives.”

The Griffin Healthspan and Vitality Center, on the second floor of the collaborative, will offer new services to meet women’s evolving needs, including these:

Movement science and physical vitality: This program will bring together experts from sports medicine, orthopedics, and NYU Langone’s Optimal Aging Institute to help women identify impactful ways to stay active and healthy as they age.

Nutrition: Endocrinologists, dietitians, and others will be available to discuss with patients how nutrition, behavioral coaching, metabolic tracking, and blood testing can optimize health.

Mental and emotional health: a mental health team will offer group and individual therapy addressing topics such as caregiving stress, trauma, and burnout.

Community and education space: the patient engagement team will host wellness classes and events in this new dedicated space.

“When you care for women, you strengthen families, communities, and public health,” said Elizabeth Comen, MD, breast oncologist and co-director of the Mignone Women’s Health Collaborative. “Yet for too long, women’s health has been narrowly defined, underfunded, and fragmented. With the Mignone family’s visionary gift and Ken Griffin’s support, we’re creating more spaces where women’s experiences shape the standard of care, where research meets real needs, and where healthcare is as multifaceted and dynamic as the women we serve.”

“These new gifts strengthen our ability to form lifelong relationships with patients built on scientific excellence and compassionate care,” said Caren Behar, MD, who is medical director of the Joan H. Tisch Center for Women’s Health, co-director of the Mignone Women’s Health Collaborative, and also the newly named Laurie M. Tisch Family Professor of Medicine thanks to a recent gift from Laurie Tisch, daughter of the late Joan Tisch, through the Laurie M. Tisch Illumination Fund. “Women’s health has historically been full of gaps in care and knowledge,” said Dr. Behar.

“The Mignones’ extraordinary support and Ken Griffin’s gift will increase our ability to approach women with care that understands their bodies and experiences.”

Nationally, 11 percent of American women suffer from endometriosis, often waiting years in pain before diagnosis. Additionally, 80 percent of all women will have fibroid disease over their lifetime, making it the most common gynecologic issue facing women.

Also, 80 percent of autoimmune diseases occur in women, and two-thirds of Alzheimer’s patients in the United States are women. Millions endure menopausal symptoms without adequate support, while heart disease—the leading killer of women in the United States—still sees them waiting longer than men for lifesaving care. Despite this reality, research funding has historically overlooked conditions primarily affecting women. The Mignone Family Foundation’s investment aims to eradicate these gaps.

The announcement is being celebrated with a series of moderated discussions between women’s health experts and advocates from across NYU Langone on topics that include the uses of artificial intelligence in healthcare, the brain–body connection, modern approaches to fertility, and wellness after cancer.

NYU Langone Health is a fully integrated health system that consistently achieves the best patient outcomes through a rigorous focus on quality, resulting in some of the lowest mortality rates in the nation.

Vizient Inc. has ranked NYU Langone No. 1 out of 115 comprehensive academic medical centers nationwide for three years in a row, and U.S. News & World Report recently placed nine of its clinical specialties among the top five nationwide.

NYU Langone offers a comprehensive range of medical services with one high standard of care across 7 inpatient locations, its Perlmutter Cancer Center, and more than 320 outpatient locations in the New York area and Florida. With $14.2 billion in revenue this year, the system also includes two tuition-free medical schools, in Manhattan and on Long Island, and a vast research enterprise.