Researchers at Duke University received a $1.3 million donation this month from Charles and Daneen Stiefel of Raleigh, N.C. The funding will go to support research at Duke Medicine that aims to study several diseases that harmfully affect the immune system and increase the risk of infectious diseases and lymphoma.
“We are fortunate to have such wonderful partners as Charlie and Daneen, who have given their time and energy to Duke University and Duke Medicine,” President Richard Brodhead said in a Duke University press release. “Their generous gift will help our researchers generate insights that will have an impact for patients not only here at Duke, but in the wider community as well.”
The $1.3 million gift will be used as research funding for studies of the genetic mechanisms that make way for Common Variable Immune Deficiency (CVID). People with this condition have low levels of infection-fighting antibodies, so they are more prone to illness and are 10 times more likely to develop lymphoma, a blood cancer that begins in white blood cells called lymphocytes.
“The Stiefel family’s support for research of this type helps advance our knowledge and furthers our mission of transforming medicine through innovation and discovery,” said Victor Dzau, president and CEO of the Duke University Health System and chancellor for health affairs. “Advances in patient care come about only through research like this, and we are very grateful to Charlie and Daneen.”
Duke BioResearch Product Faire™ Event 2013
Charles Stiefel has worked in the pharmaceutical industry for 31 years, and he says this is one of the reasons he was interested in helping to fund immune deficiency research. He was chairman and CEO of Stiefel Laboratories, Inc., a specialty dermatology company that first formed in 1847.
"Given that most of my career was spent in the pharmaceutical industry, I have always been extremely interested in medical research, particularly in the areas of cancer and immune disorders, both of which have negatively impacted my family directly," Charles Stiefel said. "I was extremely pleased with the data generated by Dr. Lugar and Dr. Dave, which have resulted in several important publications in scientific and medical journals. Consequently, Daneen and I wanted to maintain the momentum by funding the next phase of their research, which will not only elucidate further our understanding of the specific genetic mutations that cause CVID, but will hopefully also uncover new ways to treat this disease."
Lab suppliers interested in marketing life science products and lab products may also be interested to know that Duke received a great deal of money from the NIH and NSF in 2012. Duke University received $355.6 million from the NIH and $46 million from the NSF in 2012. For more NIH and NSF funding details, please visit the previously linked websites.
Given this most recent NIH grant and other funding statistics, lab suppliers may be interested in marketing their life science products and lab products at Duke University life science marketing events. Biotechnology Calendar, Inc. invites all lab suppliers to exhibit at our annual Duke BioResearch Product Faire™ Event.
Biotechnology Calendar, Inc. is a full-service science research marketing and events-planning company that organizes life science marketing events at top research universities across the country. If you are interested in marketing your life science products and lab products at life science marketing events closer to home, we encourage you to view our 2013 calendar of events. For more detailed funding information on Duke University, or to learn more about the Duke BioResearch Product Faire™ Event, click on the button below.