Billionaire medical device inventor and philanthropist Gary Michelson and his wife Alya have committed to donate $120 million to the UCLA David Geffen School of Medicine, the largest donation the couple have made to date.
The bulk of the money – $100 million – is earmarked for the development of a state immunology institute at a UCLA research park now under construction at the former Westside Pavilion shopping mall in Westwood.
Michelson is one of a group of six philanthropists who have promised to commit hundreds of millions of dollars toward the center; he also serves as co-founder and co-chair of the institute.
The group includes three other billionaires: biotech magnate Arie Belldegrun, former junk bond king-turned philanthropist Michael Milken and tech titan Sean Parker. Also part of the group are food waste recycling magnate Meyer Luskin and Eric Esraelian, UCLA health sciences clinical professor of medicine.
“The UCLA community owes Alya and Gary Michelson a debt of gratitude for this transformative gift,” said UCLA Interim Chancellor Darnell Hunt. “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.”
The physical institute is now taking shape at the former Westside Pavilion shopping mall, with full buildout not expected for several years. But in an earlier interview, Michelson said he envisions the first scientists able to move in by the end of next year.
“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,” he said in this most recent announcement.
The UCLA gift for the immunology…
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