NET WORTH: Unknown
SOURCE OF WEALTH: Goldman Sachs
FUNDING AREAS: Scientific Research of Combat Stress & Trauma, Women's Scientific Research
OVERVIEW: Robin Neustein moves her philanthropy through the Lightfighter Trust, which from 2008 to 2015 supported scientific research into the nature, causes, and relief of combat stress and trauma. The current status of her charity is unclear.
BACKGROUND: Robin Chemers Neustein attended Mount Holyoke College, received a B.A. from Brown University, and a JD/MBA from Northwestern University. Neustein joined Goldman Sachs in 1982, became a general partner in 1990, and a senior director in 2002.
ISSUES:
SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH: From 2008 to 2015, Neustein's Lightfighter Trust was laser-focused on supporting "scientific research into the nature, causes, and relief of combat stress and trauma." The charity funded projects like "Analysis of PKMι/λ, a second memory storage molecule," whose principal investigator was Todd Sacktor of SUNY Downstate Medical Center. The research aimed to help individuals with PTSD by developing an effective strategy to block reconsolidation of traumatic memories. Another project at the James J. Peters Veterans Administration Medical Center studied the psychobiology of suicidal behavior among military veterans.
The current status of Lightfighter Trust's work in this area is unknown, however; the foundation's website stated that it was focused on this area through 2015. In the most recent tax records available to the public, the foundation directed almost all of its $2.3 million to a donor advised fund. Past grantees have also included Rockefeller University, Hope for Heroism, and Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America.
Neustein also has a strong interest in supporting women scientists. As she puts it, "the untapped gender is women." Some of this giving has taken place at Weizmann Institute of Science, a public research university in Israel. The institution is home to the Robin Chemers Neustein Chair, whose first recipient was a female physicist. Other work includes endowing a postdoctoral fellowship for female research scientists at Mount Sinai Medical School.
LOOKING FORWARD: Though it's unclear what direction the Lightfighter Trust's philanthropy will take, expect Neustein to remain an engaged giver.
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