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Dolbys Give $16 Million to Build Facility for Regeneration Research
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Ray and Dagmar Dolby
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The promise of regeneration medicine at UCSF just skyrocketed, thanks to a $16 million gift from Ray and Dagmar Dolby.
The Dolbys' donation will support the construction of a proposed research building on the Parnassus campus. With the gift, the UCSF Institute for Stem Cell and Tissue Biology will be renamed the UCSF Institute for Regeneration Medicine.
"The donation for this new building is intended to help accelerate the whole research program," says Ray Dolby. "At the same time, I also think it is useful to name the endeavor in a way that might make its purpose as clear as possible."
"The Dolbys have made an extremely generous gift," says UCSF Chancellor J. Michael Bishop, MD. "Their donation lays the foundation for a building that is intended to maximize the potential of scientists to develop cell-based therapies for presently incurable diseases."
David A. Kessler, MD, dean of the UCSF School of Medicine and vice chancellor for medical affairs, adds, "This gift will help enable UCSF and its scientists to make discoveries that could ultimately lead to treatments for traumatic and degenerative disorders and provide important insights into a wide range of diseases and conditions."
The facility will bring under one roof some 15 labs already involved in diverse stem cell studies. Scientists will be strategically located in the building "to foster intensive collaboration and a cross-pollination of ideas," notes Institute Director Arnold Kriegstein, MD, PhD. For example, a group using bone marrow stem cells to treat blood cancers may be placed near researchers fusing bone marrow stem cells with liver cells, with an eye toward regenerating diseased livers.
Last summer, the University initiated a conceptual design phase with world-renowned Rafael Viñoly Architects. UCSF expects to have a realistic cost estimate for the facility this summer.
Construction funding is expected to come in part from philanthropic sources. UCSF also plans to submit a grant proposal for partial funding from the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine, created under the state's 2004 voter-approved bond measure, spearheaded by Robert Klein. Final plans for the building are subject to approval by the Regents of the University of California.
Dolby thinks the new name for the UCSF program, Institute for Regeneration Medicine, will help people grasp the significance of the research and its enormous potential for the future.
"The discovery of stem cells was a wonderful thing but, unfortunately, this name by itself does not seem to very well suggest what is happening or how," explains Dolby. "Moreover, the term 'stem cell' seems to have acquired a negative meaning with some people. I hope that those who hear about the new Institute for Regeneration Medicine will visualize the nature of the research actually taking place and what its purpose is."
To support the UCSF Institute for Regeneration Medicine, contact Linda Buck at 415/476-3953 or lbuck@support.ucsf.edu.
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