Salk Institute in La Jolla Awarded $25 Million Grant

LA JOLLA, CA -- The Salk Institute for Biological Studies has received a $25 million grant that's to be used to continue exploring a range of projects aimed at understanding the role chronic inflammation plays in driving human disease.

The grant from the New York-based Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust extends an historic $42 million Helmsley gift made to the Salk Institute in 2013. That gift established the Helmsley Center for Genomic Medicine, which enables Salk’s leading scientists to delve into the genetic underpinnings of some of humankind’s most devastating afflictions, and paves the way to new therapies for chronic illnesses, including cancer, diabetes, inflammatory bowel disease and Alzheimer’s disease.

“Helmsley is delighted to be able to provide the Salk Institute this critical renewal grant so that its scientists are able to continue the amazing research that stems from our initial grant in 2013,” Helmsley Charitable Trust CEO Stephanie Cuskley said in a statement. “We are honored to partner with the Salk Institute and help support its world-class researchers.”

The new grant starts January 1, 2017 and will provide three years of funding support for Salk research teams drawing from several areas of expertise including cancer, stem cells and metabolism. The funding provided by the grant will continue to support many core facilities at the Salk Institute.

A central theme of this program is that chronic inflammation lies at the root of most of the health problems in the world today. This Helmsley grant is designed to promote collaborative interdisciplinary research that will yield new diagnostic tools, therapeutics and preventive measures for a broad range of disorders. Amazing discoveries in diabetes, neuroscience and cancer have already been made since the original grant three years ago, resulting in two clinical trials.

In 2009, Helmsley awarded a $5.5 million grant to establish the Salk Center for Nutritional Genomics to study nutrition at the molecular level and its impact on the role of metabolism in diabetes, obesity, cancer, exercise physiology and lifespan. Helmsley expanded support with an additional $15 million grant in 2010 to create a collaborative stem cell project involving Salk and Columbia University to fast-track the use of induced pluripotent stem cells to gain new insight into disease mechanisms and screen for novel therapeutic drugs.

Salk President Elizabeth Blackburn says the funding is vital for the pursuit of transformative research that will have worldwide impact on people’s health for generations to come.

“The Helmsley Charitable Trust has made extraordinary gifts to support Salk science over the past decade,” she remarked. “We are tremendously grateful to Helmsley for their commitment to improve health and for supporting pioneering research here at the Institute.”

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