Zilkha
Neurogenetic Institue
Across from the San Pablo Street construction site of the Healthcare Consultation Center II building, workers are putting on the finishing touches of another major construction project, the Zilkha Neurogenetic Institute.
Selim K. Zilkha, a Los Angeles businessman, pledged a $20 million
gift to complete construction of the $45 million project. Open
to its first occupants in January 2003, the 125,000-square-foot,
six-story building will house more than new faculty members involved
in the Keck School of Medicine's neurogenetic initiative.
The overall design of the Zilkha Neurogenetic Institute is intended
to encourage interdisciplinary research collaboration among the
basic and clinical sciences.
Through its design, this institute will emphasize shared space
and equipment, centralized core laboratories and maximization
of potential for interaction among the scientists.
The Zilkha Institute's researchers will lay the foundation for
new cures and therapeutic strategies to attack Alzheimer's disease,
multiple sclerosis and the scores of other debilitating neurological
and psychiatric disorders faced by people worldwide.
"We are so pleased by this most generous gift from Selim
Zilkha," says Stephen J. Ryan, M.D., dean of the Keck School
of Medicine. "We were fortunate to be introduced to Selim
through his friendship with Robert Day, chairman of the W.M.
Keck Foundation, who has directly helped make the Zilkha Neurogenetic
Institute a reality."
"This gift really makes the Neurogenetic Institute happen,"
says Brian E. Henderson, M.D., the Institute's director. "It's
absolutely critical to the foundation of the Institute and all
the hopes we have to develop a strong program in neuroscience."
Unraveling the complexities of the nervous system will require
a true interdisciplinary approach, adds Henderson.
The Zilkha Neurogenetic Institute will allow that sort of intermingling
of disciplines and ideas by bringing together in one building
scientists from a variety of departments, pursuing a variety
of research goals.
This gift from Selim Zilkha, Ryan says, is a genuine partnership
with the Keck School of Medicine and will support the far-reaching
goals set forth by the Keck School.
It will not only help ensure the preeminence of the Zilkha Institute,
but will enrich beyond measure the lives of people living in
this region and the world.
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