The David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA has received an estate gift that will enhance its ability to recruit and retain exceptional medical students. The Barbara M. Rodgers Endowment will provide scholarships for students from disadvantaged communities with significant financial need who plan to return to work in their own communities. Such support allows medical students to pursue their passions and become world leaders in health and science.
Maxine and Eugene Rosenfeld have continued their support of medical education by making a gift of $1 million to advance simulation training at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA. UCLA was among the first institutions to integrate simulation technology into the curriculum. Such training is now a standard in medical education, as well as a standard in surgical and healthcare-team training. The Rosenfelds’ gift enables UCLA to remain a leader in the field and incorporate emerging technologies into the educational experience, enhancing patient safety and improving team-based performance. The Rosenfelds also contributed $500,000 to support the UCLA Eating Disorders Program under the direction of Dr. Anna-Barbara Moscicki, division chief of Adolescent and Young Adult Medicine.
For more than 60 years, the names Ralph and Shirley Shapiro have been synonymous with philanthropy at UCLA. They recently continued their commitment with a gift that will benefit the UCLA Neuroscience Research and Education Fund in the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA. This fund, under the leadership of Dr. S. Lawrence Zipursky, has advanced the research of UCLA neuroscientists, who have uncovered a fundamental principle of how neurons in a growing brain are organized, identified risk genes for autism, revealed how memory is stored in the brain and defined proteins that play a role in Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and many other diseases. The Shapiros’ contribution to the fund also will support the recruitment of the brightest and best students who will engage in investigations that will help advance genetic studies to uncover the cause of brain diseases and deepen the understanding of the brain’s process of learning and memory.
The Vance Wall Foundation has made a commitment of $1 million to the Jonsson Cancer Center Foundation to establish The Carol Vance Wall Program for New Frontiers in Breast Cancer Research: A Focus on Lobular Breast Cancer, under the direction of Dr. Dennis J. Slamon (FEL ’82), chief of the Division of Hematology-Oncology, director of Clinical/Translational Research, director of the Revlon/UCLA Women’s Cancer Program and Bowyer Professor of Medical Oncology. This innovative effort will harness existing research platforms within the Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center to develop new strategies for understanding and treating lobular breast cancer, which represents approximately 10 percent of invasive breast-cancer cases.
Dr. Ruth P. Walter has expanded her commitment to UCLA through a gift of $1 million to establish the Richard D. and Ruth P. Walter Chair in Psychiatry in the Jane and Terry Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior at UCLA. The Walter Chair will support a distinguished neuroscientist whose clinical expertise, research and teaching will focus on the areas where psychiatry, general medicine and neurology intersect.
Judy and Bob Winston have continued their commitment to UCLA with a gift of $250,000 to further support the Judith and Robert Winston Chair in Pediatric Urology in the UCLA Department of Urology. The Winston Chair will enable a distinguished faculty member to accelerate his or her teaching, research, training and clinical activities, which will foster advancement in the field and strengthen UCLA’s world-class Pediatric Urology Program.
The Jonsson Cancer Center Foundation has received a new pledge from the Wolfen Family Foundation to continue its support of the Wolfen Family Lung Cancer Clinical/Translational Research Program under the direction of Dr. Dennis J. Slamon (FEL ’82). Founded by Mimi and Werner Wolfen, the Wolfen Family Foundation is a long-standing philanthropic partner in Dr. Slamon’s efforts to advance the development of new treatments for lung cancer. This powerful relationship honors the memory of Larry Wolfen, who lost his own brief battle with lung cancer in 1994 at the age of 28, and provides hope to others affected by the disease.
For more information, contact Health Sciences Development at: (844) 474-4387
