Colombia receives $400 million donation for Biom

NEW YORK, NY (August 22, 2024) – Columbia University today announced a new $400 million gift from Roy and Diana Vagelos designed to secure Columbia’s leadership in biomedical research and education and create a broad range of compelling opportunities to improve the health and well-being of society. The gift is the largest ever made to Columbia University’s School of Medicine and, together with their previous gifts, makes Roy and Diana the most generous donors in Columbia University’s history.

A primary function of this gift will be to significantly expand the mission of the Vagelos-funded institute, which will be established in 2023. The Roy and Diana Vagelos Institute for Basic Biomedical Science will now provide the infrastructure to unite cutting-edge research in Columbia’s basic science departments, its leading medical and graduate training programs, and the exemplary research initiatives of its clinical divisions in a new dynamic organizational model. By bringing together this mix of mutually reinforcing activities, we aim to build the world’s leading ecosystem for biomedical research and attract the next generation of exceptionally creative and collaborative scientists capable of realizing this vision.

The donation announced today will also support the construction of the new biomedical research building, which will be named Vagelos Innovation Laboratories, located at the corner of 167th Street and Audubon Avenue on the Washington Heights medical campus. This facility will provide more than 55,000 square feet of new laboratory space. This new building will be a model of sustainability: the first-ever fully electrified, university-owned laboratory building in New York City.

Roy and Diana’s generous gift will also support the School of Medicine’s cell engineering and gene therapy programs and will expand innovative collaborations that leverage recent breakthroughs and new technologies. Research to advance these next-generation therapies will revolutionize the treatment of a wide range of diseases, from blood and immune disorders to cancer, metabolic disorders, and inflammatory, neurological and cardiovascular diseases, and represent a new paradigm in medicine.

The legacy of Roy and Diana Vagelos at Columbia University and in the world of philanthropic support for biomedical research and education was already well established before the announcement of this historic gift. They are unique benefactors, guided by laudable values ​​that have become guiding principles for our school. Their ongoing commitment to education, scientific research and human health in general—and to Columbia in particular—is simply unmatched. From building the spectacular Vagelos Education Center to creating a scholarship initiative that sparked a nationwide revolution in the affordability of medical education, the impact of their philanthropy will extend far beyond Columbia and be felt for generations to come.

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Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons (VP&S) is the medical school of Columbia University Irving Medical Center, a clinical, research, and educational campus in New York City. Founded in 1767, VP&S was the first medical school in the United States to award the degree of Doctor of Medicine (MD). For more information, visit vagelos.columbia.edu.