# University of Leicester receives record £7 million donation

- Link: https://fundraising.co.uk/2012/08/23/university-leicester-receives-record-7m-donation/
- Published: 2012-08-23T08:23:11+01:00
- Author: Howard Lake

The University of Leicester is to receive a £7 million donation, the largest in 
the University’s history since its inception in 1921.

The donation from the [John and Lucille van Geest Foundation](http://www2.le.ac.uk/alumni/supportus/roleofphilanthropy/casestudies/jandlvangeestfoundation/history)
is divided into two grants. A £2.5 million grant will enable the University to build
a new Biomarker Facility next to the University’s Cardiovascular Research Centre
at Glenfield Hospital. This will help the University to develop a ‘personalised 
medicine’ approach unique to the UK.

In addition, a £4.5 million heart research Fund will be created allowing researchers
from the University of Leicester to bring together strands of evidence about a patient’s
disease namely, genes, proteins, lipids and any relevant clinical data to enhance
the understanding of disease.

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A representative of the trustees of the John and Lucille van Geest Foundation said:“
All three trustees are delighted to support the immediate plans for the new £2.5
million Biomarker Facility proposed by the team at the University of Leicester and
also to make a difference more widely for cardiovascular research in the long term.
The establishment of ‘the van Geest Foundation Heart and Cardiovascular Diseases
Research Fund’ with a gift and pledge of £4.5 million will ensure that vital funding
for priority research projects will be available to University investigators for
many years into the future.”

The Foundation is currently being wound up. It will spend its remaining funds on“
a few medical research areas; working with selected leading institutions and investigators
who are highly regarded in their field”.

www2.le.ac.uk/alumni/supportus/roleofphilanthropy/casestudies/jandlvangeestfoundation/
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