UCLA Health
Funds from the gift will "be instrumental in our efforts to expedite an effective treatment or cure," said Dr. Kelsey Martin, dean of the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA.
UCLA has received a $2 million commitment from the W. M. Keck Foundation to establish the UCLA W. M. Keck Foundation COVID-19 Research Fund.
The fund will support basic science research aimed at understanding the SARS-CoV2 virus and the mechanisms by which it causes disease, as well as why some people are more susceptible to life-threatening disease than others; and developing new methods to detect infection and new therapies to treat COVID-19 infection.
"When the threat of COVID-19 became known, scientists at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA ramped up research to develop an effective way to test for it, determine how the coronavirus developed and discover pathways to overcome it," said Dr. Kelsey Martin, dean of the medical school, and holder of the Gerald S. Levey, M.D., Endowed Chair. "We are deeply grateful to the Keck Foundation for this gift, which will provide our dedicated investigators with vital resources and be instrumental in our efforts to expedite an effective treatment or cure."
