Mark Zuckerberg, Priscilla Chan Gift $600 Million To 3 Bay Area Universities, Including Stanford, For Research Center

BAY AREA, CA – Three leading Bay Area research universities will team up thanks to $600 million from Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg and his wife Priscilla Chan to create a new biomedical research center in San Francisco, university officials said today.

University of California at San Francisco, Stanford University and University of California at Berkeley are teaming up to create the Chan Zuckerberg Biohub, which will be headquartered next to UCSF's Mission Bay
campus in San Francisco.

The Biohub is being funded by the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, a company founded by the couple. A satellite office will be located at Stanford, according to officials with the universities.

"This exciting new venture by the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative brings together private philanthropy with some of the best minds in the world," University of California president Janet Napolitano said in a statement.

Research at the Biohub will begin with two projects to be conducted over the next five years.

The Cell Atlas project aims to create a map revealing the different types of cells in the human body controlling the body's major organs such as the heart, brain and lungs.

The Infectious Disease Initiative, the second project, will explore new ways to create drugs, diagnostic tests and vaccines against infectious diseases that threaten the world's people such as HIV, Ebola and Zika.

The Infectious Disease Initiative will also consist of a rapid response team that can devote scientists and technology to stopping a sudden outbreak.

Some of the $600 million may also go toward projects that are too exploratory to receive funding from government agencies such as the National Institutes of Health.

UCSF professor and chair of biochemistry and biophysics Joseph DeRisi will co-lead Biohub with Stanford professor of bioengineering and applied physics Stephen Quake.

Researchers and scientists will have access to laboratory space, the latest technology and money for ambitious projects.

"This is an extraordinary opportunity," DeRisi said in a statement. "We have three great research powerhouses in the San Francisco Bay Area in UCSF, Stanford and Berkeley, and this nexus will forge highly
productive partnerships to advance human health."

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--Bay City News/Photo: Mark Zuckerberg, Dr. Priscilla Chan and baby Max. Photo credit: Mark Zuckerberg via Facebook