Dear campus community,
We are very pleased to share the exciting news that UC Berkeley — together with UC San Francisco and the University of Washington — is launching the Weill Neurohub, thanks to a $106 million gift from the Weill Family Foundation. This innovative research network will forge and nurture new collaborations between neuroscientists and researchers working in an array of other disciplines — including engineering, computer science, physics, chemistry, and mathematics — to speed the development of new therapies for diseases and disorders that affect the brain and nervous system.
The Weill Neurohub will be at the forefront of developing integrated approaches that bring together basic science and research and applied science and patient care. It will provide researchers and clinicians from the three institutions with highly novel tools to break through established thinking and inspire powerful innovation spanning the continuum from discovery science to therapies and cures for patients across the West and around the world. It also will build on earlier investments in neuroscience by Joan and Sanford I. “Sandy” Weill. In 2016, they made a gift which established the Weill Institute for Neurosciences at UCSF.
We want to thank Joan and Sandy Weill for this generous philanthropic commitment and the many ways in which they have demonstrated their support of Berkeley and the UC mission. This extends beyond philanthropy and includes Sandy’s contributions as a member of the Board of Visitors. The Weill Neurohub is a true reflection of their wide-ranging leadership and passionate dedication to advancing solutions to some of the most vexing issues facing society.
Neuroscience is at an inflection point. The immense knowledge gained over decades of basic research can now be married to advanced technologies — brain-computer interfaces, artificial intelligence analyses of big datasets, neuroimaging, and next-generation genome sequencing — to advance new treatments for neurological and psychiatric diseases. Through an agreement signed between the Department of Energy and the Weill Family Foundation, the Weill Neurohub will be able to collaborate with leading researchers and potentially access unique capabilities at DOE’s 17 National Laboratories, which are world-class centers of excellence in bioengineering, artificial intelligence, imaging, and data science. At Berkeley, our effort will be led by the following faculty in the neurosciences: Udi Isacoff, Dan Feldman, Andy Dillin, and Bill Jagust.
We are excited at Berkeley to help lead the way in this new era of neuroscience.
For more information about this transformative gift, please see the Weill Neurohub site and Berkeley News.
Sincerely,
A. Paul Alivisatos
Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost
Carol Christ
Chancellor