Guess who funded Moderna? - Page 4

Mindy D · ‎05-23-2010

@Kachina624 wrote:
@Mindy D. So she did not give the donation to Moderna but to Vanderbilt? Moderna is a for-profit corporation listed on NASDAQ. As such they would not be eligible for 501c.

@Kachina624 Yes, she gave it to Vanderbilt. Refer to JohhnyEager's post in this thread. He lists the funding sources for Moderna. Dolly's gift is among them. I followed up on his post and went to Vanderbilt to check and they have a page thanking Dolly.

by the Dolly Parton COVID-19 Research Fund (Vanderbilt University Medical Center)

Johnnyeager · ‎09-05-2014

Dolly made her gift (not investment) to Vanderbilt University Medical Center back in April. Her friend is a doctor and professor at the University who had previously treated her. At the time, he informed her that Vanderbilt was already undertaking promising research into the virus.

It was later that Moderna partnered with the University to utilize their developments and research, leading to the vaccine. This type of cooperation is quite common and not at all unusual.

Additionally, it's quite possible that Dolly was not aware of her Vanderbilt connection to the Moderna developments for sometime.