UC San Diego Receives $1 Million Grant from W. M. Keck Foundation
(Originally published by the University of California, San Diego)
December 7, 2010
The University of California, San Diego announced that it has received a $1 million gift from the W.M. Keck Foundation. The Kavli Institute for Brain and Mind (KIBM) at UC San Diego, which integrates knowledge from all disciplines that deal with the nature of the brain and mind, will administer the gift to help fund cutting-edge neural systems research.
Dr. Ralph Greenspan, lead research scientist and associate director at KIBM, will oversee laboratory operations for this project. “Demonstrating that there is a fundamental, unifying principle for the operation of biological networks could revolutionize the natural sciences,” said Dr. Greenspan. “Our research is based on the concept that the interactions among the various sectors of a biological network are more critical than any individual component.” He added, “The results of our work could have substantial implications, not only for many areas of biology, including for synthetic cells and therapeutic developments, but also for the design and implementation of artificial networks in applications as diverse as computing, engineered devices, and communications.”
The W.M. Keck Foundation’s mandate is to support pioneering discoveries in science, engineering and medical research by funding the work of leading researchers and the establishment of unique laboratories and research centers, especially in Southern California. Since 1982, the Foundation has provided more than $15 million to support research efforts at UC San Diego.
“We are very grateful to the W.M. Keck Foundation for their support of The Kavli Institute and Dr. Greenspan’s work,” said Keith York, senior director of Development at UC San Diego Corporate and Foundation Relations. “Generous private donations such as this allow UC San Diego to remain a leader in groundbreaking research that has implications for all of society.”