Back in 2008, South Dakota businessman Denny Sanford gave $80 million to bolster the Consortium for Regenerative Medicine in San Diego. In 2013, Sanford donated an additional $100 million to establish the allied Sanford Stem Cell Clinical Center at the University of California, San Diego. Building on the same hope for new therapies that motivated the regenerative medicine consortium, the new center aims to help transform promise into reality by accelerating the development of new stem-cell-derived drugs and treatment plans for patients. The particular focus will be clinical trials which attempt to translate research into everyday medical practice. With this gift, Sanford passed the $1 billion mark in lifetime donations, with most of his funding going to health-related causes.
- News from the University of California, San Diego, ucsdnews.ucsd.edu/feature/100_million_gift_launches_sanford_stem_cell_clinical_center