Skip to main content

About Us

The Genesis Foundation For Children provides funding for clinical, informational, and therapeutic programs for children born with physical and intellectual challenges and genetic disorders.

DONATE TODAY

 

OUR MISSION

To provide funding and advocacy for children and families affected by a rare disease or genetic disorder from conception through adulthood.

OUR VISION

A world where all children with a rare disease or genetic disorder achieve their full potential.

OUR METHOD

The Genesis Foundation for Children lives its mission through the practice of the Feingold Model of Coordinated Care.

OUR HISTORY

In 1982, Dr. Murray Feingold, a leading pediatrician and geneticist, created what he called The Genesis Fund — later renamed The Genesis Foundation for Children — to provide integrated, compassionate care and advocacy for patients with rare diseases and genetic disorders. With The Genesis Foundation’s financial support, Dr. Feingold was able to establish The Feingold Center for Children, now The Feingold Service at Mass General for Children, which assembles a team of specialists dedicated to providing comprehensive care to their patients and allows sufficient time to spend with them learning together. Today, the Feingold Model of Coordinated Care has expanded to include offering therapeutic and informational services.

How We Got Started

The Feingold Model of Coordinated Care

The late Dr. Murray Feingold, a leading pediatrician and geneticist, wanted to provide coordinated and compassionate care for the patients he served with rare diseases and genetic disorders. He wanted to offer a unique model of coordinated care for these families, in the form of a center that could make referrals to the best medical specialists, coordinate multiple appointments, offer satellite clinics in local communities, and allow sufficient time to answer the many questions that parents have regarding their child’s condition and care. This mission required funding to give physicians that flexibility. Dr. Feingold founded The Genesis Fund in 1982, which was re-named The Genesis Foundation for Children in 2014, to provide this funding. The Feingold Center was subsequently founded by Dr. Feingold as the National Birth Defects Center, which was renamed in 2010.

Learn More About The Feingold Service

1982

Dr.Murray Feingold creates “The Genesis Fund”

1983

The Feingold Center for Children is established

1983

The John Havlicek Celebrity Fishing Tournament holds its second event, making this fundraiser an annual tradition

1990

The Genesis Fund becomes the sole funder for The Pregnancy Exposure InfoLine (PEIL) – renamed MotherToBaby Massachusetts

2006

Dr. Catherine Nowak returns to the Feingold Center for Children after serving as Chief of Genetics at UMass Memorial Medical Center

2011

The Feingold Center is transferred to Children’s Hospital Boston in Waltham, MA as part of the Division of Genetics

2014

“The Genesis Fund” is renamed to “The Genesis Foundation for Children”

2016

Matthew Hoffman takes over as president of the Foundation

2017

The Genesis Foundation celebrates its inaugural Founder’s Gala

2022

The Feingold Center is transitioned to Mass General for Children as part of their Division of Medical Genetics and Metabolism, and becomes the “Murray Feingold Coordinated Genetics Service” (the Feingold Service).

Our Founder

Dr. Murray Feingold

Founder and President of The Genesis Foundation for Children and The Feingold Center for Children. (1930-2015)

A clinical geneticist and pediatrician for patients with complex genetic disorders for over 50 years, Dr. Feingold gained the admiration and respect of his colleagues in the medical field across the country. A revered geneticist, Dr. Feingold was also a consummate fundraiser who raised tens of millions of dollars to dramatically improve the lives of thousands of children. In addition to authoring two books and nearly 200 medical articles, Dr. Feingold was the Medical Editor for WBZ-TV and was an innovator – using television as an outlet for information on family medicine. Later, Dr. Feingold worked with WBZ News Radio and became renowned for his “Medical Minute” segment, and was inducted into the Massachusetts Broadcasters Hall of Fame in 2014. Dr. Feingold’s pioneering, holistic approach for the patient and the family is now considered a model for healthcare delivery for children with disabilities.