# University of Exeter receives largest ever single gift of £10 million

- Link: https://fundraising.co.uk/2018/04/18/university-exeter-receives-largest-ever-single-gift-10m/
- Published: 2018-04-18T07:45:44+01:00
- Author: Melanie May

**The Dennis and Mireille Gillings Foundation has given the University of Exeter
its largest ever single gift of £10m.**

The Foundation’s donation will fund new Mireille Gillings Neuroimaging Centre at
the [University of Exeter Medical School](https://medicine.exeter.ac.uk/), which
will focus on dementia research and diagnosis.

The new building, located at the Royal Devon and Exeter NHS Foundation Trust (RD&
E) site, will help accelerate clinical trials for potential dementia treatments 
over the next five years. It should double the number of dementia drugs in development,
through the use of new brain-scanning technology and techniques to diagnose and 
assess the impacts of potential therapies for Alzheimer’s.

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The £10 million gift will also be used to help improve cancer diagnosis by GPs and
to support the next generation of medical leaders.

Dr Mireille Gillings is the founder and Chief Executive Officer of HUYA Bioscience
International, which specialises in accelerating development of biopharma innovation
from China.

Dr Gillings said:

> “As a neuroscientist I understand that the application of new scanning technology
> and techniques has the potential to transform neurological research.  This new,
> state-of-the-art imaging centre will undoubtedly play a pivotal role in the molecular
> understanding, diagnosis, and treatment of Alzheimer’s and other neurological 
> disease.”

Professor Clive Ballard, Dean of the University of Exeter Medical School said:

> “This incredibly generous gift will help us make a real difference to people with
> dementia across the world. We urgently need new treatments. This new imaging centre
> will help us conduct innovative new trials to find them.”

Main image: Mireille and Dennis Gillings

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