UC Berkeley Gets $50 Million for Health Sciences Initiative

UC Berkeley announced a $50-million gift--the largest in its history--last week from an anonymous donor to help fund a $500-million program to spur medical innovations.

Officials said the money would be used to fund the school’s new Health Sciences Initiative, which will bring together as many as 400 researchers to work in such fields as cancer treatment, medical imaging and treatment of brain and spinal cord injuries.

The initiative will focus on building facilities at a cost of $300 million to house state-of-the-art tools and technologies used in the health sciences.

The bulk of the money is expected to come from private donations and so far the university has raised $124 million in private and public funds.

In addition to the $50-million gift, $20 million has come from William Power, co-founder of the insurance brokerage firm Power and Dalziel, to support the neuroscience program.