# £3 million gift to Imperial College London for research into brain disease

- Link: https://fundraising.co.uk/2014/08/13/3m-gift-imperial-college-london-research-brain-disease/
- Published: 2014-08-13T07:00:29+01:00
- Author: Howard Lake

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.

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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”.

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.”

 

**The Edmond J. Safra Foundation**

The [Edmond J. Safra Foundation](http://www.edmondjsafra.org) 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.

 

_Photo: [brain impulses](http://www.shutterstock.com/pic-128316104/stock-photo-brain-impulses-thinking-prosess.html)
by Alex Mit on Shutterstock.com_

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