Name: A Harvard research labs remarkable gift from a 6-year-old girl
Uploaded: 2025-11-09T20:07:02.770Z
Duration: 2 min 34 s
Description: When 90% of funding was cut to a Harvard medical research lab studying the regenerative qualities of salamanders, six-year-old Marianne Cullen, of Springfield, Mass., a fan of salamanders, stepped up to help. Steve Hartman reports on how one young donor lifted spirits as well as funds.

When 90% of funding was cut to a Harvard medical research lab studying the regenerative qualities of salamanders, six-year-old Marianne Cullen, of Springfield, Mass., a fan of salamanders, stepped up to help. Steve Hartman reports on how one young donor lifted spirits as well as funds.

A Harvard University research lab focused on axolotl limb regeneration faced uncertainty after losing most of its government funding. The lab's morale was lifted when six-year-old Marianne Cullen from Springfield, Massachusetts, donated $1,000 she raised through a self-organized fundraiser, motivated by her fascination with axolotls and their endangered status.

Marianne's contribution, though modest in amount, had a significant emotional impact on the lab team and its leader, Professor Jessica Whited. The lab's funding has since been reinstated, but Professor Whited says Marianne's encouragement will remain a lasting source of inspiration for their ongoing research.

A Harvard research lab's remarkable gift from a 6-year-old girl

Steve Hartman this weekend reminds us that in the darkest of times it sometimes takes a child to help us see the light. Why do you think that that would matter for humans? Professor Jessica Whited leads a team of researchers at Harvard University all studying the axolotl, that's salamander with a superpower to regrow body parts. And we want to find out the secrets like the actual molecular secrets of how they regenerate limbs. So that people could regrow limbs? That is the hope someday, yep. A hope that faded a few months ago when her team lost almost all its government funding. It was dark times until the day a donor stepped forward. It definitely had a positive effect on every everyone in the lab. Everybody was just flabbergasted. Flabbergasted not by the size of the donation, but rather the size of the donor. Six-year-old Marianne Cullen of Springfield, Massachusetts is obsessed with axolotls. There's more to them than just being cute. They can grow back any limb. And she says they're endangered. And there's way other animals that need saving. This one is my destiny to save. Parents Kat and Rob Cullen. And I think she took it kind of to the next level honestly. She said I want to raise money for axolotls. So to support conservation and research, Marianne built a PowerPoint and held a fundraiser, made a thousand dollars for the lab. But why is all this your responsibility? Not a lot of people get how important it is to save this animal. And therefore you have to take the lead. I feel like I do. The courts have since reinstated the lab's funding. No telling if that will stand. But regardless, Professor Whited says Marianne's contribution will always keep her going. Sometimes you know who's fighting for you in life and sometimes you don't. And that's always the time when you're just like pause and be like wow. So there's a bone in here right? And certainly in the world of axolotl research, that kind of encouragement is worth an arm and another arm. Eventually it goes back and gets the whole thing.

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