UCLA gets $120 million donation for new Immunology and Immunotherapy institute

The university will also get an endowment to offer research grants to scientists who are using new processes to advance human immunology, immunotherapy and vaccine discovery.

Study in US: Inventor and philanthropist Dr. Gary Michelson and Alya, his wife, have committed to providing $120 million to the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) to establish the California Institute for Immunology and Immunotherapy.

While commenting on this, UCLA Interim Chancellor Darnell Hunt said, “The UCLA community owes Alya and Gary Michelson a debt of gratitude for this transformative gift. The Michelsons envisioned an institute that would leverage UCLA’s strengths for maximum public good, create new knowledge leading to better medical treatments, and reshape the study of immunology. The gift will change countless lives here and across the globe.”

“Immunology is the mediator of nearly all human diseases, whether we’re talking about cancer or heart disease or Alzheimer’s. The vision for this institute is to become a ‘field of dreams’ — the world’s leading center for the study of the immune system to develop advanced immunotherapies to prevent, treat and cure all of the diseases that afflict people today and to end these diseases in our lifetime," said Michelson.

About California Institute for Immunology and Immunotherapy

It is co-founded by Dr. Eric Esrailian, Meyer Luskin, Sean Parker, Michael Milken and Dr Arie Belldegrun. It will be a primary occupant in the 700,000-square-foot UCLSA Research Park and will be spread over an area of 360,000 square feet. The site will be at the same place as the former Westside Pavilion.

UCLA Former Chancellor Gene Block played a crucial role in selecting the location for the California Institute for Immunology and Immunotherapy.

“I am incredibly excited to see the institute taking shape — in large part due to the work and contributions of the Michelsons and our other partners — and I believe as strongly as ever that UCLA and Los Angeles will be the perfect home for it. The institute exemplifies UCLA’s enduring commitment to harnessing scientific research for the public good, and it will cement our university’s position as one of the world’s leading centers of medical innovation," said Block.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom said, “The California Institute for Immunology and Immunotherapy at UCLA’s Research Park is yet another proof point that California remains the epicenter of global innovation — an endeavor that will benefit California, the United States, and the world. This incredible act of generosity by Alya and Gary Michelson, coupled with Gary’s prolific work over the years as a leading innovator in the medical field, perfectly exemplifies the California spirit and will help ensure our state’s global economic, scientific and technological dominance for decades to come.”

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