image: Diana and Roy Vagelos at Met Gala, 2014
Credit: Columbia University Irving Medical Center
NEW YORK, NY (Aug. 22, 2024)--Columbia University announced today a new $400 million gift from Roy and Diana Vagelos, which will secure Columbia’s leadership in biomedical science research and education and produce a vast array of compelling opportunities for improving society’s health and wellbeing. The gift is the single largest ever made to Columbia’s medical school and, taken together with their previous giving, establishes Roy and Diana as the most generous donors in the history of Columbia University.
A principal function of this gift will be to significantly expand the mission of the Vagelos-funded institute created in 2023. The Roy and Diana Vagelos Institute for Basic Biomedical Science will now provide the infrastructure to unite cutting-edge research taking place in Columbia’s basic science departments, its leading medical and graduate education programs, and the exemplary research initiatives in its clinical departments in a new dynamic organizational model. By assembling this mix of mutually reinforcing activities, we seek to build the world’s foremost ecosystem for biomedical research and to attract the next generation of exceptionally creative and collaborative scientists able to realize this vision.
The gift announced today also will support construction of the new biomedical research building, to be known as the Vagelos Innovation Laboratories, at 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 very first fully-electrified, university-owned laboratory building in New York City.
Roy and Diana’s generous gift also provides major support for the medical school’s programs in cell engineering and gene therapy and will expand innovative collaborations that harness recent breakthroughs and new technologies. Research to advance these next-generation therapies will revolutionize treatment for a wide variety of diseases ranging from disorders of the blood and immune system to cancers, metabolic disorders, and inflammatory, neurological, and cardiovascular conditions, representing 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 became guiding principles for our school. Their sustained commitment to education, scientific research, and human health, in general—and to Columbia, in particular—is simply unmatched. From the construction of the spectacular Vagelos Education Center, to the creation of a scholarship initiative that sparked a nationwide revolution to address affordability in medical education, the impact of their philanthropy will extend far beyond Columbia and be felt for generations to come.
###
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 located in New York City. Founded in 1767, VP&S was the first medical school in the United States of America to award the Doctor of Medicine (MD) degree. For more information, please visit vagelos.columbia.edu.