A $20 million gift from Philip and Cheryl Milstein to the Columbia University Medical Center was announced recently. The donation will be used as part of an effort to rejuvenate the medical campus with construction of the Medical & Graduate Education Building on Haven Street between West 171st and West 172nd Streets. Administrators at Columbia University Medical Center said the building will include “innovative classroom and study spaces that will incorporate state-of-the-art information technology while facilitating collaborative, team-based learning.” The new building’s function will be the training of students in the College of Physicians and Surgeons and the biomedical science departments in the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. (Read our earlier blog on this new construction project at CUMC here.)
Tags: 2014, 2013, Northeast, New York, Columbia University, Columbia, BioResearch Product Faire Event, Research Funding, New York City, Columbia University Medical Center, new facilities, laboratory equipment sales, charitable giving
Emory University recently received research funding for the Winship Cancer Institute totaling $10 million from the Wilbur and Hilda Glenn Family Foundation. The gifts will fund the Glenn Family Breast Center at Winship and will be directed towards supporting the breast cancer program’s research goals in Georgia, such as funding clinical trials and recruitment. According to an Emory University news article, the Glenn Scholars program, which donates research money to Winship scientists whose breast cancer research has a high impact, will also benefit from the research funding.
Tags: 2014, Emory University, 2013, Winship Cancer Institute, cancer research, Southern, Georgia, Emory, BioResearch Product Faire Event, Research Funding, Atlanta, GA, lab supplier, Southern Region, Cancer Center, charitable giving, research money
Neurobiology research has a long and storied history at Columbia University and its Medical School in New York, dating back to the groundbreaking work of American neurologist Harry Grundfest 60 years ago. 30 years ago Columbia became one of the first universities to bring together diverse, cross-disciplinary researchers in neighboring labs to study behavior at the cellular, molecular, and systems level. By 2004, when Columbia celebrated its 250th anniversary, university president Lee Bollinger (right) announced the formation of a Mind Brain Behavior Initiative to more productively bring scientists into an even more integrated research effort across not only the two existing New York City campuses, but with an anchor (and crossroads) at the new CU Manhattanville campus then in the active planning stages.
Tags: 2014, 2013, Northeast, New York, Columbia University, brain research, Neuroscience, Columbia, BioResearch Product Faire Event, Funding, Neurology, NY, New York City, Northeast Region, charitable giving
In 2002, entertainment mogul David Geffen gave an unrestricted gift of $200M to the University of Calfornia Los Angeles' School of Medicine, which was subsequently named the David Geffen School of Medicine (DGSOM) in recognition of his generosity. Now, Mr. Geffen has made a further gift of $100M to establish a medical scholarship fund that will offer full funding to the most qualified and promising medical students, whether they are pursuing the MD degree or the MD/PhD in UCLA's renowned Medical Scientist Training Program. As the aim of the scholarship program is to recruit the best students in the world to DGSOM, both American and international students are eligible. All costs including living expenses and supplies are covered by the award and are offered for all 4 years (or 8 in the combined MD/PhD scientist program).
Tags: CA, University of California Los Angeles, California, 2012, Los Angeles, Funding, UCLA, Biotechnology Vendor Showcase, medical school, charitable giving
Tags: Georgetown University, Washington DC, Northeast, Multiple Sclerosis, new science wet labs, 2012, Neuroscience, Geotwn, BioResearch Product Faire Event, Biomedical Research Funding, charitable giving
Oracle Corporation is a Northern California computer technology giant with its world headquarters in the San Francisco Bay Area's Silicon Valley. From its wildly popular OpenWorld tech conference event held annually in San Francisco to its America's Cup sailboat that can be seen tacking across the Bay to and from the Golden Gate Yacht Club on a nice day, Oracle maintains a strong presence in the Bay Area, even beyond its extensive Redwood City campus. But that doesn't mean the company's Chairman of the Board (and former CFO) Jeff Henley lacks the vision to see that one of California's great strengths as far as technology goes is in the University of California System, and that strength comes from leveraging its power and resources across the state. That's why Henley and his wife have just committed $50M to fund a new science building, labs and faculty salaries on the UC Santa Barbara campus, where Henley got his undergraduate education.
Tags: California, University of California Santa Barbara, Engineering, Funding, Conference, Event, Energy, charitable giving
Rockefeller University, Weill Cornell Medical College, and Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center are not only neighbors along Manhattan's East River Drive, they're research collaborators in the Tri-Institutional Stem Cell Initiative (Tri-SCI). Established in 2005 with a gift from the Starr Foundation, that same charitable organization has just committed another $50M to stem cell research at the three adjacent campuses. In addition to funding researchers and laboratory equipment, Tri-SCI provides support for 3 research core facilities for the derivation, characterization and maintenance of current and new human embryonic stem cell lines.
Tags: Rockefeller University, Northeast, Stem cell research, New York, BioResearch Product Faire Event, Funding, New York City, BRPF, charitable giving
Thanks to a $15M charitable gift from the Helmsley Trust, Rockefeller University is establishing a new research center to focus on digestive diseases: the Center for Basic and Translational Research on Disorders of the Digestive System. With research faculty from 20 Rockefeller labs working in the fields of immunology, microbiology, cancer biology, and metabolic disease, the collaborative center will support the training of Ph.D students, postdoctoral researchers, and physician-scientists, as well as provide seed grants for early phase projects and funding for the purchase of equipment.
Tags: Rockefeller University, Northeast, Medical Research, Stem cell research, New research facilities, Life Science Funding, new science wet labs, New York, biology research, BioResearch Product Faire Event, Funding, New York City, new construction, BRPF, charitable giving
The University of Michigan in Ann Arbor has been producing top scientists for a long time. One notable alum, who went on to found the research science company SAIC, has recently donated $15 million to his alma mater, ensuring that Michigan will continue to train and support future generations of innovative engineers. In honor of this generous gift, the University will name its new engineering building on the North Campus after the donor and his wife, hence the Bob and Betty Beyster Building for Computer Science and Engineering. This isn't Robert Beyster's first gift to UM Ann Arbor either. In recent years, he has contributed toward research in biofuels, cloud computing and security, and gene therapeutics. He has also funded a class on employee ownership though the Center for Entrepreneurship. Michigan has one of the top engineering programs in the country.
Tags: University of Michigan, Midwest, New research facilities, 2012, Ann Arbor, Engineering, BioResearch Product Faire Event, Funding, MI, UMich, charitable giving
Federal basic and applied science research funding could see an increase of 3.3% over 2012 (enacted) levels, to $64B, if the President's budget request for 2013 is approved. Holding tight to the promise of supporting technology and innovation while at the same time respecting the deficit cap imposed by Congress, the latest budget request proposes only level $30.7B funding for the NIH but funding increases for the NSF, NIST, and DOE Office of Science, with a combined total of $13.1B. 
Tags: 2012 Research Funding, 2011 Research Funding, venture development in life sciences, Funding, NIH, new research grants, NSF, charitable giving