Eli and Edythe Broad.
Photo: Sam Comen
Expanding its long-standing commitment to UCLA and stem cell research, The Eli and Edythe Broad Foundation has made a $10 million gift to UCLA that will fund education, faculty recruitment and retention and innovative research at the UCLA Eli and Edythe Broad Center of Regenerative Medicine and Stem Cell Research.
Since its inception, the UCLA Broad Stem Cell Research Center has achieved successes in stem cell gene therapy, stem cell immunotherapy, cell replacement strategies and drug discovery. The new funding from The Broad Foundation will enable UCLA scientists to build upon these achievements and advance promising therapies to clinical trials.
Beginning in 2005, The Broad Foundation invested more than $80 million to create and sustain three namesake stem cell centers in California, of which UCLA is one. The Broad Foundation’s recent gift of $30 million provides $10 million in funding for UCLA and each of the two other centers, bringing the foundation’s total support of stem cell research centers in the state to $110 million.
“We are proud to support California’s growing stem cell research and treatment infrastructure led by the talented scientists and staff at the Broad Stem Cell Centers at UCLA, UC San Francisco and the University of Southern California,” said Broad Foundation president Gerun Riley. “With their commitment to identifying potential treatments for cancers, heritable disorders and more, we believe the centers will continue to make life-changing medical breakthroughs that will impact the lives of people around the world.”
Scientists at the three stem cell centers already have launched clinical trials for treatments of cancer, blinding eye diseases, spinal cord injuries, HIV and sickle cell disease and other life-threatening blood disorders.
“The Broad Foundation’s transformative early investment enabled our three centers to attract the best and brightest investigators from around the world,” said Dr. Owen Witte, founding director of the UCLA Broad Stem Cell Research Center and university professor of microbiology, immunology and molecular genetics at UCLA. “These pioneering researchers have embraced the Broads’ mission of improving human health by building a truly collaborative scientific community in California.”
For more information, contact Sara Kalish at: 310-983-3063
