EFTA02683561: Rockefeller University Research Funding Agreement Connected to Leon Black

UpdatedSeptember 11, 2026

ByEpsteinWiki

Snapshot

EFTA02683561 begins a nine page document concerning a proposed $10 million gift from Debra and Leon Black to The Rockefeller University. The money was designated for research into obsessive compulsive disorder, depression, and anxiety by the laboratories of Professors Paul Greengard and Nathaniel Heintz.

The record includes September 2014 email correspondence, a draft gift agreement, a memorandum from university president Marc Tessier Lavigne, a five year payment schedule, a scientific proposal, and a detailed annual budget.

The draft agreement bears apparent signatures for Debra Black and Leon Black. However, it remains marked “DRAFT,” the precise execution day is blank, and the acceptance line for Rockefeller University president Marc Tessier Lavigne is not signed in the released copy. The document therefore should not be described as a fully executed agreement without additional records.

Jeffrey Epstein is not named anywhere in these nine pages. The document is relevant because it was included in the Department of Justice Epstein Files production and dates from a period when Black has acknowledged employing Epstein for tax, estate planning, and related financial services. Its inclusion does not prove that Epstein advised on, arranged, funded, approved, or participated in this particular gift.

Document Details

Evidence range: EFTA02683561 through EFTA02683569

Release collection: Department of Justice Epstein Files, Data Set 11

Document length: Nine pages

Primary date: September 24, 2014

Earlier correspondence included: September 8, 2014

Proposed donors: Debra Black and Leon Black

Proposed recipient: The Rockefeller University

Proposed gift: $10 million

Proposed term: Five fiscal years

Annual installment: $2 million

Research leaders: Paul Greengard and Nathaniel Heintz

Research focus: Obsessive compulsive disorder, depression, anxiety, molecular neuroscience, genetics, brain circuitry, and possible therapeutic targets

Document status: Marked draft, apparently signed by the proposed donors, but not signed on behalf of Rockefeller University in the released copy

September 2014 Email Correspondence

EFTA02683561 contains an email sent on September 24, 2014, at 5:00 p.m. from Maren E. Imhoff to Debra Black. Rockefeller University president Marc Tessier Lavigne and Peggy Chandler were copied.

The subject line reads:

Re: CONFIDENTIAL: Greengard/Heintz OCD/Depression Project

The email identifies four attachments:

A draft Black gift agreement concerning obsessive compulsive disorder research.
A draft payment schedule.
A proposal and budget for the research initiative.
A memorandum prepared by Marc Tessier Lavigne.

Imhoff tells Debra Black that Tessier Lavigne prepared the requested memorandum and says university representatives look forward to seeing her at a board meeting scheduled for October 15.

The same page contains an earlier email from Imhoff dated September 8, 2014. In that message, she sends a draft agreement for Debra Black’s review and offers to work with her attorney or adviser.

Some recipient information is redacted. The record does not identify the attorney or adviser, confirm whether one participated, or explain how a copy entered the Epstein related evidence collection.

The Proposed $10 Million Gift

The draft agreement on EFTA02683562 identifies Debra and Leon Black as the donors and The Rockefeller University as the recipient.

The agreement states that the Blacks pledge $10 million to support research into obsessive compulsive disorder and depression. The research would be conducted by:

Professor Paul Greengard, head of the Laboratory of Molecular and Cellular Neuroscience.
Professor Nathaniel Heintz, head of the Laboratory of Molecular Biology.

The agreement directs the funds toward a new research initiative using molecular and genetic methods to develop possible treatments for obsessive compulsive disorder and depression.

The research is described more fully in an attached September 2014 proposal titled “Toward Development of New Treatments for Obsessive Compulsive and Comorbid Disorders.”

Payment Schedule

The proposed payment schedule appears on EFTA02683565. It divides the $10 million pledge into five equal payments:

Fiscal year 2015: $2 million payable by June 30, 2015.
Fiscal year 2016: $2 million payable by June 30, 2016.
Fiscal year 2017: $2 million payable by June 30, 2017.
Fiscal year 2018: $2 million payable by June 30, 2018.
Fiscal year 2019: $2 million payable by June 30, 2019.

The schedule totals $10 million.

The draft agreement allows the donors to accelerate the payments at their sole discretion. It also states that the donors made provisions through their wills so that any unfulfilled portion of the pledge would be binding upon their estates if they died before completing it.

The released pages do not include canceled checks, wire records, university accounting records, tax filings, gift acknowledgments, or other proof showing which installments were actually paid.

Signature and Execution Issues

The gift agreement is visibly marked “DRAFT.”

The signature page contains apparent handwritten signatures above the printed names of Debra Black and Leon Black. The month “October” is handwritten into the execution date, followed by the printed year 2014. The line for the specific day is blank.

A New York notary block appears below Leon Black’s signature. However, the released page does not establish when the notarization occurred or whether the copy was later replaced by a final agreement.

The section stating that The Rockefeller University accepts the agreement contains a signature line for president Marc Tessier Lavigne. That line is blank.

These details create an important evidentiary distinction. The document appears to show donor approval of a draft or near final agreement, but it does not show Rockefeller University’s signature accepting the agreement.

The document alone therefore does not establish:

Whether this was the final governing agreement.
Whether the university signed a separate copy.
Whether the pledge became legally binding.
Whether the full $10 million was transferred.
Whether any terms changed after this version was circulated.

Memorandum From Marc Tessier Lavigne

EFTA02683563 contains a confidential memorandum dated September 24, 2014, from Rockefeller University president Marc Tessier Lavigne to Debra and Leon Black.

The memorandum thanks the Blacks for their commitment to the new research initiative and addresses the planned continuity of the project if Paul Greengard could no longer lead his laboratory because of death, retirement, or incapacity.

Tessier Lavigne writes that Greengard was healthy and remained scientifically productive. He explains that Greengard and Heintz had collaborated for more than a decade and states that Heintz could continue the project if Greengard became unavailable.

The memorandum also says that a tenured professor’s laboratory would not immediately close after the professor’s death. Researchers and fellows could remain during a transition period, allowing work to continue.

On EFTA02683564, Tessier Lavigne assures the Blacks that there would be no interruption, drift, or hiatus. He says either Greengard or Heintz could provide the project’s intellectual leadership and identifies Heintz as capable of producing the promised preclinical data.

The memorandum appears to respond to a concern raised by the proposed donors. However, the underlying conversation or request from the Blacks is not included.

The Scientific Research Proposal

The research proposal begins on EFTA02683566. It is dated September 2014 and identifies Paul Greengard and Nathaniel Heintz as its authors.

Its full title is:

Toward Development of New Treatments for Obsessive Compulsive and Comorbid Disorders

The proposed research focuses on brain circuits associated with obsessive compulsive behaviors, depression, and anxiety. It specifically discusses cortico striatal thalamo cortical circuits involving the cerebral cortex, basal ganglia, and thalamus.

The proposal states that available imaging, stimulation, and animal research suggested that abnormal activity within these circuits was associated with obsessive compulsive disorder. It argues that more precisely targeted therapies could potentially improve treatment effectiveness and reduce side effects.

The proposal also recognizes that obsessive compulsive disorder frequently overlaps with major depression and anxiety disorders. The researchers sought to study the molecular properties of brain cells and circuits involved across these conditions.

These are statements and scientific expectations presented in the 2014 proposal. The document does not report completed findings, clinical trial results, regulatory approvals, or successful treatments produced by the project.

TRAP Translational Profiling

The proposal describes a research method called TRAP translational profiling. The document says Greengard and Heintz developed the technology to identify proteins expressed in particular cell types or circuits.

The researchers proposed using this method to examine brain cell types associated with obsessive compulsive disorder, major depression, and anxiety disorders.

According to EFTA02683567, their laboratories had already used the approach to study approximately 100 central nervous system cell types. The proposal states that earlier work identified possible therapeutic targets involving Parkinson’s disease, schizophrenia, and cognitive decline associated with aging.

The agreement does not include independent validation of those claims. It presents the claims as part of the researchers’ justification for the proposed funding.

Proposed Research Program

The six part research program described on EFTA02683567 proposed to:

Define the cell types present within the relevant brain circuits at a molecular level.
Profile those cell types using selected mouse models of obsessive compulsive disorder, major depression, and anxiety disorders.
Identify biological pathways altered within important cell types.
Use bioinformatics to compare those pathways and develop testable theories about possible therapeutic interventions.
Identify cell specific molecules that might be targeted with medication.
Test possible therapeutic targets through genetic experiments involving behaviors in mice.

The researchers expected the work to generate preclinical information that pharmaceutical companies could evaluate when developing new drugs.

The proposal does not establish that any pharmaceutical partnership occurred or that the research produced a commercial drug.

Project Duration and Scientific Limitations

On EFTA02683568, the researchers describe the project as a comprehensive five year program.

They explain that expanding the research from obsessive compulsive disorder alone to include depression and anxiety would require additional personnel, laboratory resources, genetically engineered mice, behavioral testing, molecular analysis, sequencing, and bioinformatics.

The proposal acknowledges an important limitation. It says the preclinical validation work described as Aim 6 could begin during the five year funding period but could not be completed within that period.

The document therefore does not promise a completed treatment or clinical product within five years. Its stated objective was to build molecular evidence and identify potential therapeutic targets for additional development.

Annual Research Budget

The proposed annual budget appears on EFTA02683569. It totals $2 million, matching each annual installment in the draft payment schedule.

The proposed personnel included:

Four postdoctoral associates at a combined cost of $260,000.
Four molecular biology research assistants at a combined cost of $180,000.
Two animal behavior research assistants at a combined cost of $80,000.
Two animal technicians at a combined cost of $60,000.
One bioinformatics specialist at $65,000.
Fringe benefits calculated at 40 percent, totaling $258,000.

The materials and services budget included:

Anatomical services at $40,000.
BAC modification supplies at $25,500.
General laboratory supplies at $30,500.
Molecular biology reagents at $35,000.
RNA sequencing reagents at $38,500.
Genotyping supplies at $45,500.
High throughput sequencing services at $365,000.

Animal related costs included:

Animal maintenance at $335,000.
Animal purchases and surrogates for in vitro fertilization at $64,500.
Cryopreservation at $32,500.
In vitro fertilization services at $29,000.

Computing costs included:

Information technology services at $44,000.
Cloud storage for high throughput sequencing data at $12,000.

The individual categories total $2 million according to the budget. The released document does not contain invoices, payroll records, laboratory purchasing records, or spending reports showing how the proposed budget was implemented.

People and Institutions Named

Debra Black: Identified as one of the proposed donors and the principal recipient of the September 2014 email correspondence.

Leon Black: Identified as one of the proposed donors. His apparent signature appears on the draft gift agreement.

Maren E. Imhoff: Sender of the September 2014 emails transmitting the draft agreement, schedule, proposal, budget, and university memorandum.

Marc Tessier Lavigne: Then president of The Rockefeller University. He wrote the continuity memorandum and was listed as the university official who could accept the agreement.

Paul Greengard: Rockefeller University professor and proposed leader of the research initiative.

Nathaniel Heintz: Rockefeller University professor and proposed joint leader of the initiative.

Peggy Chandler: Copied on the September 24 email. The released record does not describe her role.

The Rockefeller University: Proposed recipient of the $10 million gift and site of the research program.

Jeffrey Epstein: Not named in the nine page document.

Connection to Jeffrey Epstein

The most important limitation of this record is that Jeffrey Epstein does not appear in the email headers, agreement, memorandum, proposal, payment schedule, or budget.

The document was nevertheless released as part of the Department of Justice Epstein Files production. Its presence establishes that it was included in the released Epstein related evidence collection. Presence in that collection does not explain who possessed it, how it was obtained, whether it came from an email account, or why investigators retained it.

The document dates from 2014, during the period in which Leon Black has acknowledged paying Epstein for financial, tax, and estate planning services. Reporting on Black’s congressional appearance states that Black paid Epstein at least $158 million from 2012 through 2017 and maintained that the payments were for legitimate advisory work. Black has denied knowledge of or participation in Epstein’s criminal conduct.

A United States Senate Finance Committee letter later raised questions about the scale and nature of Black’s financial relationship with Epstein.

That broader relationship makes the agreement a legitimate subject for further research. It does not permit researchers to claim that Epstein created or managed this donation without supporting evidence.

Why This Record Matters

This record provides a detailed example of Leon Black’s proposed philanthropic activity during the same general period in which Epstein was providing services to Black and Black related entities.

It identifies a large proposed charitable commitment, a multiyear payment structure, provisions binding the donors’ estates, scientific beneficiaries, and a detailed institutional budget.

The document may help investigators compare:

Black’s charitable commitments with advice provided by Epstein.
Philanthropic transactions with tax and estate planning records.
Payments scheduled between 2015 and 2019 with related bank records.
Draft agreements in the Epstein files with final agreements held by the receiving institutions.
Epstein’s known involvement in scientific and academic philanthropy with this separate Rockefeller University proposal.

The record is not proof that charitable funds were connected to criminal conduct. Its evidentiary value lies in the financial, institutional, and chronological questions it raises.

Evidence Appearances

EFTA02683561: September 24 and September 8, 2014 emails from Maren E. Imhoff, attachment list, redacted recipients, and board meeting reference.
EFTA02683562: Draft $10 million gift agreement, donor signatures, estate provision, notary block, and unsigned Rockefeller University acceptance line.
EFTA02683563: September 24, 2014 memorandum from Marc Tessier Lavigne addressing continuity if Paul Greengard could no longer lead the project.
EFTA02683564: Continuation of the memorandum, TRAP translational profiling discussion, and assurance that Nathaniel Heintz could complete the project.
EFTA02683565: Draft payment schedule providing for five annual installments of $2 million.
EFTA02683566: First page of the scientific proposal concerning obsessive compulsive disorder, depression, anxiety, brain circuitry, and possible therapies.
EFTA02683567: TRAP profiling description, six proposed research aims, and expected preclinical data.
EFTA02683568: Budget narrative, five year research plan, expanded focus on depression and anxiety, and stated inability to complete all validation work during the proposed term.
EFTA02683569: Detailed annual budget totaling $2 million.

Questions Still Unanswered

Why was this document present in the Epstein related evidence collection?
From whose account, device, files, or records was it obtained?
Was the document sent or shown to Jeffrey Epstein?
Did Epstein advise Debra or Leon Black concerning this proposed gift?
Did Epstein participate in the tax, estate planning, or philanthropic structure associated with the pledge?
Who were the redacted recipients in the September 8 email?
Was an attorney or adviser involved in negotiating the agreement?
If so, who was that adviser?
Was a final agreement executed after this draft?
Why was the university acceptance line unsigned in the released copy?
On what day in October 2014 did Debra and Leon Black apparently sign the document?
Was the draft notarized, and are the complete notarial records available?
Did Rockefeller University receive all five proposed $2 million payments?
Were any installments accelerated, delayed, reduced, redirected, or canceled?
Through which bank accounts, trusts, foundations, or entities were payments made?
Were the payments claimed as charitable tax deductions?
Did the funding produce reports, publications, patents, licensing agreements, or pharmaceutical partnerships?
How was the annual $2 million research budget actually spent?
Did any unused money remain after the project ended?
Are Rockefeller University’s final agreement, payment records, and research reports available?
Are there adjacent Epstein file records discussing this agreement or its tax treatment?
Did the Department of Justice release any native versions of the listed Word documents or email attachments?

Fact Check

Confirmed by the document: The proposed donors were Debra and Leon Black.

Confirmed by the document: The proposed gift totaled $10 million.

Confirmed by the document: The proposed payment schedule called for five annual payments of $2 million.

Confirmed by the document: The money was designated for research led by Paul Greengard and Nathaniel Heintz.

Confirmed by the document: The research concerned obsessive compulsive disorder, depression, anxiety, brain circuitry, genetics, and possible therapeutic targets.

Confirmed by the document: Apparent signatures for Debra Black and Leon Black appear on the agreement.

Confirmed by the document: The agreement is marked “DRAFT.”

Confirmed by the document: The precise execution day is blank.

Confirmed by the document: The university acceptance line for Marc Tessier Lavigne is unsigned.

Confirmed by the document: The annual proposed budget totals $2 million.

Confirmed by the document: Jeffrey Epstein is not named in these nine pages.

Not established by the document: That Rockefeller University executed this version of the agreement.

Not established by the document: That the complete $10 million pledge was paid.

Not established by the document: That Epstein drafted, negotiated, advised on, funded, or facilitated the gift.

Not established by the document: That any money associated with the gift came from Epstein or an Epstein controlled entity.

Not established by the document: That the research produced a successful treatment or commercial drug.

Not established by the document: Why the record was included in the Epstein Files production.

Source List

EFTA02683561 Download

PostedFebruary 17, 2026