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| California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger greets Edythe and Eli Broad (right and second from right) while UCSF Senior Vice Chancellor Bruce Spaulding (back left) and Chair of the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine Bob Klein (middle) look on. |
The Eli and Edythe Broad Foundation is donating $25 million to UCSF's stem cell program, one of the largest and most comprehensive programs of its kind in the United States. The gift will go toward construction of a headquarters for the program on the Parnassus campus, enabling scientists to continue their groundbreaking advances in identifying strategies to treat a wide range of diseases.
In recognition of the gift, the Institute for Regeneration Medicine at UCSF will be renamed The Eli and Edythe Broad Center of Regeneration Medicine and Stem Cell Research at UCSF.
The building is designed to enhance scientists' efforts to develop novel treatments for such diseases as diabetes, cardiovascular disease, Parkinson's disease, HIV/AIDS and cancer. The $123 million facility will bring together 25 labs involved in various areas of stem cell and related early-cell studies. It will serve as the core of a research program that will continue to extend throughout UCSF, encompassing 125 labs exploring the earliest stages of animal and human development, mechanisms of organ repair, immune rejection, biomaterials and cancer – looking ahead toward clinical therapies.
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| Left to right: President Alan Trounson and Chair Bob Klein of the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine, Eli and Edythe Broad, UCSF Chancellor J. Michael Bishop, and Director of The Eli and Edythe Broad Center of Regeneration Medicine and Stem Cell Research at UCSF Arnold Kriegstein |
"Scientists have made significant headway in understanding the basic biology of stem cells in recent years, and UCSF scientists have been at the forefront of these efforts," says Eli Broad, founder of The Eli and Edythe Broad Foundation, the largest non-governmental donor to stem cell research in California, having given $75 million to support or create stem cell centers at UCSF, USC and UCLA.
"Eli and Edythe Broad have shown extraordinary generosity and vision with this gift," says UCSF Chancellor J. Michael Bishop, MD. "Discoveries in the medical sciences result from rigorous inquiry, creative thinking and, sometimes, serendipity. They also result from the proximity of scientists working on similar problems from different angles. Nowhere is this more true than in the stem cell field. The Broads' gift will directly advance this effort."
At the December 17 announcement of the gift, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said, "This $25 million contribution gives us hope and offers so much potential to millions of people who suffer from spinal cord injuries, diabetes, Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, multiple sclerosis and many other illnesses. Because of Eli and Edythe's generous gift to UCSF today, some of the world's leading stem-cell scientists will be able to come together under one roof in a new research building – creating an environment for collaboration and enhancing research efforts. This revolutionary science has the potential to not only improve and save lives, it can also improve our economy, and I am proud that California is leading the country in this crucial research."
For more information on stem cell research at UCSF, contact Bonnie Feinberg at 415/476-3953 or BFeinberg@support.ucsf.edu.
Photos by Noah Berger
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