The late Serena S. Merck founded The John Merck Fund, a New York charitable trust named for her son, in 1970. For the first sixteen years, The Fund worked exclusively to support research into children’s developmental disabilities. Beginning in 1986, it added programs in other fields that also were of concern to Mrs. Merck and her late husband, George W. Merck. Currently, The Fund has four program areas: Developmental Disabilities, Clean Energy, Environmental Health and Regional Food Systems.