The Michelson Medical Research Foundation is a private, non-profit philanthropy founded by orthopedic spinal surgeon and inventor Gary K. Michelson.[1][2] The foundation aims to solve global health issues by promoting the development of innovative ideas in medicine and bioscience.[3]
The foundation's co-chairs are Dr. Michelson and his wife, Alya Michelson.
History
The Michelson Medical Research Foundation was founded in 2005 and seeded with $100 million.[4][5]
2019 Next Generation Grant winners Dr. Murad Mamedov and Dr. Avinash Das Sahu collaborated on a study, published in August 2023, to identify how gamma-delta T cells recognize and destroy cancer cells.[13]
Initiatives
The USC Michelson Center for Convergent Bioscience: Inaugurated on November 1, 2017, The USC Michelson facility—the largest research building located at the University of Southern California—provides a revolutionary environment for collaborative research.[14]
The Michelson Entrepreneurship Award seeks to drive technological innovation in healthcare at the Wharton Startup Challenge.[15]
The Michelson Ethical Research & Education Initiative: a partnership between the Michelson Medical Research Foundation and the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine aimed at ending the use of dogs and other animals in medical education and various types of medical research such as alcohol abuse research, heart failure research.[16]
The California Institute of Immunology and Immunotherapy at the new UCLA Research Park, announced in January 2024.[17] The Michelson Medical Research Foundation gifted $120 million to the project in August 2024 to establish two research entities within the Institute and provide research grants to students.[18]
Beneficiaries
Beneficiaries of the Michelson Medical Research Foundation include: