Stanford University has received a generous gift from the Good Planet Foundation to establish an endowed fund in the Department of Neurology & Neurological Sciences.  Interest from the fund will be used to support the Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center (ADRC) and work focused on research in the field of Alzheimer’s disease and neurodegenerative diseases. The $10 million pledge will be paid over a period of 5 years.  At that point, endowment income will add approximately 12% to the annual operating budget of the ADRC, whose principal funding comes from the National Institute on Aging.  In acknowledgement of this pledge, the ADRC has been named for Iqbal Farrukh and Asad Jamal.  Mr. Jamal is the founder and chairman of ePlanet Capital, a venture capital firm, and Ms. Farrukh is his mother. (Further information:  https://med.stanford.edu/news/all-news/2021/09/alzheimers-disease-research-center-renamed.html)

The ADRC, directed by Dr. Victor Henderson, is part of a nationwide network of congressionally mandated Centers of Excellence funded by the National Institutes of Health/National Institute on Aging. The Centers of Excellence programs help establish critical research infrastructure; foster collaboration; train researchers, physician scientists, and other professional staff; and provide shared resources through core facilities.  Over 30 ADRCs at major universities work together to translate research advances into improved diagnosis and care for people with Alzheimer’s disease and related disorders.  (Further information:  https://www.nia.nih.gov/health/alzheimers-disease-research-centers)