UCSF Receives $185M Donation for New Neuroscience Research Institute

The University of California, San Francisco is one of the most well-funded research institutions in the country, comprised of hundreds of life scientists conducting cutting-edge research who continuously publish important research results. Thanks to a generous donation, the university will be expanding its research space over the next few years.  

(Image courtesy of Payton Chung via Wikimedia Commons)

Sandy and Joan Weill have recently announced a donation of $185 million to UCSF to create a new neuroscience institute on the UCSF Mission Bay campus, called the Weill Institute for Neurosciences. The institute will be housed in a soon-to-be-built $316 million facility, providing 270,000 square feet for research and outpatient services where medical practitioners and researchers can collaborate on projects.

In explanation of choosing to donate this $185 million to UCSF, Sandy Weill said: “I think that Joan and I have always liked to play with the underdog. And we looked at the neurosciences as underdogs relative to cancer and cardio, where a lot more was being done.”

Research that will be conducted in the institute includes:

• Alzheimer's Disease
• Autism
• Multiple Sclerosis
• Parkinson's Disease
• Psychiatric Illnesses
• Sleeping Disorders

Dr. Matther State from the UCSF Department of Psychiatry explained that this donation is "truly transformational" and that "it is an extraordinary vote of confidence for them to make this kind of investment in neuroscience at UCSF."

The Weill's have made numerous contributions to different universities in the past. In 2014, the couple donated $12 million to Sonoma State University to complete the Weill Hall concert space, and have also donated $600 million to Cornell University and Weill Cornell Medicine.

Their most recent donation to UCSF is one of the largest donations ever made in the US for brain research. 

(Image courtesy of Biotechnology Calendar, Inc.)

The University of California, San Francisco is a multi-million dollar research marketplace.

In the 2015 fiscal year, the university received more than $563.6 million in funding from the NIH. Departments at the university receiving substantial amounts of this funding include: 

1. Internal Medicine/Medicine - $178.9 million
2. Neurology - $52.1 million
3. Pharmacology - $42.3 million
4. Biochemistry - $21.8 million
5. Anatomy/Cell Biology - $18.4 million 

With so much in funding supporting a wide variety of life science research projects, UCSF is a thriving marketplace for lab suppliers to discuss their products with active scientists. Biotechnology Calendar, Inc. produces a Semiannual Biotechnology Vendor Showcase™ Event in San Francisco that does just that.

Lab suppliers who attend this popular event are able to:

• Discuss tools and technologies with purchasing agents and end users to help them learn why a particular company's products would be most beneficial to their research.
• Discover new quality leads in one place in only a few hours.
• Increase brand exposure in the San Francisco academic marketplace.

The 25th Annual Biotechnology Vendor Showcase™ Event at the UCSF Parnassus campus will be held on June 9, 2016. To learn more about participating in these events, visit the following link: 

Researchers in San Francisco interested in discovering the best and newest laboratory supplies should visit the link below to learn more about attending this free event and pre-register and save time at the door: