£3m gift to Imperial College London for research into brain disease
Howard Lake | 13 August 2014 | News
Lily Safra and the Edmond J. Safra Foundation have donated £3 million to Imperial College London to help accelerate its research into neurodegenerative disease.
The donation establishes or supports:
- the Edmond and Lily Safra Chair in Translational Neuroscience and Therapeutics, a professorial position endowed in perpetuity.
- the Edmond and Lily Safra Neuroscience Scholars Programme for outstanding early-career scientists who are researching neurodegenerative conditions such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s Disease.
Professor Paul Matthews, Head of the Division of Brain Science at Imperial, has been appointed as the first Edmond and Lily Safra Chair. One focus will be to build on recent advances in inflammation science that offer hope for the rapid development of new therapies based on Professor Matthews’ previous research on the role of neuroinflammation in neurodegenerative disease.
The Foundation is an existing donor to Imperial’s Division of Brain Science. It established the Edmond J. Safra Chair in Neuropsychopharmacology there, currently held by Professor David Nutt.
Mrs Lily Safra said:
“Diseases of the brain like Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s are only becoming more prevalent, and I know first-hand the suffering they cause to patients and families. I am proud to be funding pioneering brain research at dozens of institutes around the world, as well as programmes to improve the care of patients and to support their caregivers”.
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Heather Williamson, Director of Principal Gifts at Imperial added:
“This gift from Lily Safra and the Edmond J. Safra Foundation will support future generations of scientists in the fight against neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s Disease. Their commitment is inspirational, and testifies to their belief in the power of science to respond to the health challenges of the twenty-first century.”
[message_box title=”The Edmond J. Safra Foundation” color=”blue”]The Edmond J. Safra Foundation was established by the banker and philanthropist Edmond J. Safra. Since his death in 1999 it has continued to support good causes under the leadership of his wife, Lily Safra. The Foundation is today a major funder of projects in education, science and medicine, religion, culture and humanitarian relief in over 40 countries.[/message_box]
Photo: brain impulses by Alex Mit on Shutterstock.com
About Howard Lake
Howard Lake is consultant editor of UK Fundraising. He founded the site in 1994 and successfully sold it in 2022. As director of Giving X Ltd he is exploring growing giving on a massive scale.
He is the founder of Fundraising Camp and co-founder of GoodJobs.