T. Denny Sanford Donates $30 Million to San Diego Consortium for Regenerative Medicine
SAN DIEGO, Sept. 16 /PRNewswire/ -- The San Diego Consortium for Regenerative Medicine today announced that it has received a generous $30 million donation from T. Denny Sanford of South Dakota.
In recognition of the donation, the Consortium is now known as the Sanford Consortium for Regenerative Medicine. The funds provided by Sanford, combined with a $43 million major facilities grant awarded by the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM) earlier this year, will be used to build and equip a facility where scientists from the Consortium's four member institutions can collaborate on world-class stem cell research.
"The fact that Denny Sanford chose to make such a substantial donation to the Sanford Consortium speaks volumes about the quality research that scientists from our four member institutions bring to the table," said Edward Holmes, M.D., Sanford Consortium President and CEO. "This facility will allow for faster and smarter research to take place by providing a venue for collaboation."
Sanford added, "I am excited to support this unique collaboration of four world class institutions. I believe that by working together these researchers will quickly bring forward novel scientific developments that ultimately help patients with limited or no treatment options today."
The gift will be announced at a press conference to be held today at 10 a.m. PDT at the Burnham Institute for Medical Research in La Jolla, Calif.
The Sanford Consortium will be one of seven new stem cell research Institutes funded by CIRM to help build California's global leadership in stem cell research and to accelerate the field as a whole.
About T. Denny Sanford
A philanthropist from Sioux Falls, S.D., T. Denny Sanford is a philanthropist who donates significantly to health and science ventures. Through his own giving and the Denny Sanford Foundation, his charitable donations include $400 million to Sioux Valley Hospitals and Health Systems, now Sanford Health; $70 million to the state of South Dakota for the Sanford Science Center; and $20 million to the Burnham Institute for Medical Research in San Diego for the Sanford Children's Health Research Center. Sanford has been listed on the Chronicle of Philanthropy's list of top donors and BusinessWeek's "50 Most Generous Philanthropists" list.
About the Sanford Consortium for Regenerative Medicine
Formed in 2005, the Sanford Consortium for Regenerative Medicine is a nonprofit organization that marshals the intellectual resources of four world- leaders in life sciences research: the Burnham Institute for Medical Research, the Salk Institute for Biological Studies, The Scripps Research Institute and the University of California, San Diego. Using the collective strength of its members, the Consortium's research program is focused on developing tools and technologies to hasten the pace of stem cell research progress and to discover and develop diagnostics, therapies and cures to relieve human suffering from chronic disease and injury. The Consortium was originally assembled as the San Diego Consortium for Regenerative Medicine, but renamed in September 2008 after a naming donation from T. Denny Sanford.