Salk Institute awarded $25 million grant from Helmsley Charitable Trust

LA JOLLA, Cailf., Nov. 21, 2016 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Salk Institute for Biological Studies has received a $25 million grant—a renewal of the largest research gift in the Institute's 56-year history—that will be used to continue exploring the role chronic inflammation plays in driving human disease.

The grant from The Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust extends the historic $42 million Helmsley gift made to the Salk Institute in 2013. That gift established the Helmsley Center for Genomic Medicine, which enables Salk scientists to delve into the genetic underpinnings of disease and paves the way to new therapies for chronic illnesses, including cancer, diabetes, inflammatory bowel disease and Alzheimer's disease.

"Helmsley is delighted to be able to provide the Salk Institute this critical renewal grant so that its scientists are able to continue the amazing research that stems from our initial grant in 2013," says Stephanie Cuskley, chief executive officer of the Helmsley Charitable Trust. "We are honored to partner with the Salk Institute and help support its world-class researchers."

The new grant will start January 1, 2017 and provide three years of funding support for Salk research teams drawing from several areas of expertise including cancer, stem cells and metabolism. Led by senior investigators Inder Verma, Ronald Evans and Rusty Gage, scientists who will continue to be funded by Helmsley include Reuben Shaw, Juan Carlos Izpisua Belmonte, Marc Montminy, Clodagh O'Shea, Alan Saghatelian, Tony Hunter, Greg Lemke, Paul Sawchenko, Satchidananda Panda and Geoffrey Wahl. Additional support will also be provided to Jan Karlseder, Martin Hetzer, Ye Zheng, Diana Hargreaves, Janelle Ayres, Dmitry Lyumkis, Patrick Hsu and Jesse Dixon. The funding provided by the grant will continue as well to support many core facilities at the Salk Institute.

A central theme of this program is that chronic inflammation lies at the root of many health problems. This Helmsley grant is designed to promote collaborative interdisciplinary research that will yield new diagnostic tools, therapeutics and preventive measures for a broad range of disorders.

"The Helmsley Charitable Trust has made extraordinary gifts to support Salk science over the past decade," says Salk President Elizabeth Blackburn. "We are tremendously grateful to Helmsley for their commitment to improve health and for supporting pioneering research here at the Institute."

For more, visit salk.edu and www.helmsleytrust.org or contact [email protected].

SOURCE Salk Institute for Biological Studies

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