Apart from being known as the better half of Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, Dr. Priscilla Chan is also a practicing pediatrician, an admired philanthropist and mom to baby Maxima Chan Zuckerberg. Recently, she joined her husband in announcing that they are funding a billion-dollar project to boost researches that aim to cure the world of all diseases by year 2100. The accomplished mom revealed it was their daughter who inspired them to come up with the initiative.
Speaking with Today, Priscilla Chan said that her desire to help her husband with this project stemmed from being able to fulfill her hopes and dreams for Max. "[She] drives me to want to work harder and invest now to make sure that the future is where it needs to be," Chan explained. The Zuckerberg couple welcomed their first child into their lives in November 2015.
Priscilla Chan and her husband have openly spoken about the difficulty in conceiving a baby and she has admitted to miscarriages before Max came along. So, it's easy to understand why they dote on their daughter a lot. "Mark and I are just over-the-top proud of everything she does," Priscilla Chan said. Like any other parent, they see their daughter as a special being who is deserving of a world where there are less threats, such as diseases.
Being a pediatrician has also made Priscilla Chan empathic of the sufferings of her patients. According to NBC News, the mom actually teared up when talking about their project because she has seen how diseases have devastated families. "In those moments, I see first-hand how the limit of the science behind medicine leads to suffering," Priscilla Chan wrote on Facebook.
Chan, however, clarified that their objective isn't ambitious nor aiming for the moon. "[It] doesn't mean no one will ever get sick...but it means our children and their children should get sick a lot less." Learn more about the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative in the video below.
