Pharmaceutical leader and philanthropist Jane Hirsh ’65 (PHARM) made a $250,000 gift to the University of Connecticut’s School of Pharmacy to seed non-animal research in drug discovery and development, including organ-on-a-chip innovations.
Part of the gift establishes the Jane Hirsh Fellowship in Non-Animal Testing Innovation, which directly supports pharmacy graduate students pursuing alternatives to animal testing in medical therapy development. The balance of the gift will create the Hirsh Fund for Non-Animal Testing Innovation Programs, which funds innovative School of Pharmacy research in non-animal testing methods, including organ-on-a-chip technology. Organ-on-a-chip devices are lined with living human cells and are used to detect human organ responses.
Hirsh’s gift establishes a flagship program aligned with Food and Drug Administration, National Institutes of Health, and international efforts to advance non-animal methods for testing drug safety. Because of policy changes, scientific limitations of animal models, and rapid technological progress, the drug development industry is anticipated to shift away from animal testing — positioning UConn to meet a growing industry shift and establish itself as a model for ethical and effective drug development.
“As biomedical science continues to evolve, it is important that education evolves with it,” says Hirsh. “This initiative is intended to help prepare students to work with modern, human-relevant technologies that can make drug development more effective, more responsible, and ultimately more impactful for patients.”
As part of the program, UConn will incorporate organ-on-a-chip technologies developed by Javelin Biotech, a Massachusetts–based company, into its teaching and research enterprise, giving UConn researchers and trainees hands-on access to emerging scientific tools as well as valuable research experience.
Javelin Biotech began collaborating with Xiaobo Zhong and José Manautou, UConn pharmacy professors leading the flagship program, in 2024; their subsequent joint research has led to two major NIH grant applications with strong funding potential.
Through the fellowship, selected Pharm.D. students, graduate students, and postdoctoral fellows will receive specialized training, mentorship, and experiential learning opportunities, preparing them for next-generation careers across academia, industry, and regulatory science.
“Jane Hirsh’s wonderful gift allows us to educate students at the leading edge of pharmaceutical science,” says School of Pharmacy Dean and Clinical Professor of Pharmacy Practice Philip Hritcko. “Her gift will create a deep legacy: a generation of scientists and clinicians who advance safer, more effective therapies more quickly and inexpensively while reducing reliance on animal testing and creating more ethical standards in pharmaceutical research.”
Hirsh’s gift advances the historic $1.5 billion Because of UConn campaign, bringing the campaign closer to its goals to ease students’ financial burdens and boost academic research.
The UConn Office of the Provost and Office of the Vice President for Research have committed matching funds to support multidisciplinary research laboratories across the university, demonstrating a broader institutional commitment to positioning UConn as a leader in this space. In the long term, the Hirsh fellowship and research programs, as well as the associated organ-on-chip infrastructure, have the potential to lay the groundwork for a formal UConn Center for Human Microphysiology and Non-Animal Testing, which will catalyze additional partnerships with industry, government, and philanthropy.
Hirsh has dedicated her life to scientific innovation and is a longstanding supporter of humane research practices. After graduating from UConn’s School of Pharmacy in 1965, she began her career in hospital pharmacy at Massachusetts General Hospital before going on to build and lead multiple successful life-sciences companies. She founded Copley Pharmaceuticals and co-founded Collegium Pharmaceuticals, both publicly traded companies, as well as Onset Pharmaceuticals. She remains actively engaged in advancing biomedical innovation and serves on the boards of several emerging technology companies.
