UMD Virologist Makes $16M Planned Gift

SEVEN YEARS AGO, Professor Anne Simon (above) suddenly found herself out of funding. After decades of published research, she was between federal grants, and her lab was at risk of shuttering—before she could finish developing a vaccine to save the world’s citrus groves from a deadly disease.

Department support helped tide her over. But she still remembers the stress of possibly letting go of the dedicated scientists on her team.

“I want to pay it back and keep that from happening to others,” she says. “I want to keep good people here and attract good researchers, especially junior faculty, in these fields that I love.”

That’s why the plant virologist (and longtime “The X-Files” scientific adviser) this fall made a $15 million planned gift to the Department of Cell Biology and Molecular Genetics to create two endowed professorships, one in virology and another in ribonucleic acid (RNA) or plant biology, and multiple postdoctoral and graduate fellowships. An additional $1 million will fund the Sondra Simon Memorial Maryland Promise Scholarship, in honor of her mother.

“The University of Maryland has been a leader in virology research thanks to faculty members like Anne Simon, and her generous support through this bequest will help us immeasurably to expand our work in this vital area,” says College of Computer, Mathematical, and Natural Sciences Dean Amitabh Varshney. “Our research in virology and related areas is emblematic of our drive to tackle the world’s most pressing grand challenges.”

Simon’s support stems from her company, Silvec Biologics, which she created with her brother, Rafael Simon, in 2019 to stop citrus greening disease. This bacterial infection has decimated more than 90% of oranges, grapefruits and other fruits in Florida since 2005 and spread extensively in Asia, the Americas and Africa. While temporary fixes exist, such as injecting medical-grade antibiotics into trees, Simon instead vaccinates them using an RNA virus to deliver antimicrobial peptides; lab testing has been effective and field testing is underway.