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D E V E L O P M E N T•C R E AT I V E C O L L A B O R AT I O NMing Hsieh donates $50 millionto establish research institute onengineering-medicine for cancerUSC Trustee Ming Hsieh announces a$50 million gift establishing the USCMing Hsieh Institute for Research onEngineering-Medicine for Cancer.Mini Medical Schoolset for March 24The Keck School ofMedicine ParentsAssociation will hostthe second MiniMedical School onThursday, March 24,from 1-5 p.m. inMayer Auditorium.The half-day eventwill include a receptionwith light refreshments,faculty presentationsand a tour ofthe Health SciencesCampus plus LAC+USCMedical Center.Watch for details orcontact the Keck Officeof Alumni Relations,626-457-4076,crwagner@usc.edu.26 KECK MEDICINE | Winter 2011 IssueUSC Trustee and alumnus Ming Hsieh announceda substantial gift at the Oct. 15 inaugural ceremonyfor USC President C. L. Max Nikias, Ph.D., on theUniversity Park Campus.“On this day of celebration,” Hsieh said, “I announcemy support of USC and the leadership ofPresident Nikias with a gift of $50 million for theinception of an interdisciplinary research institutethat will bring together the best engineers, scientistsand physicians in the battle against cancer.”The new gift will establish the USC Ming HsiehInstitute for Research on Engineering-Medicinefor Cancer. “This institute will accelerate the paceof getting the new medicines from the lab to thecancer patients,” Hsieh continued. “It will bridgethe disciplines and bridge this campus and the USCHealth Sciences Campus.”Expressing thanks for the gift, President Nikiassaid, “This kind of creative collaboration is our besthope for dealing with this devastating disease. On apersonal level, I am deeply moved that Ming Hsiehchose to make this visionary gift commitment on theday of my inauguration.”Keck School of Medicine of USC Dean CarmenA. Puliafito, M.D., M.B.A., noted that the donationwill help Keck and other USC researchers in theirquest to translate cancer discoveries into effectivetherapies for patients.“The fight against cancer has gained a powerfulally in Ming Hsieh,” Puliafito said. “This giftillustrates the critical synergy of health care andtechnology that has the potential to dramaticallychange the lives of cancer patients. We are gratefulfor his visionary gift.”The gift was Hsieh’s second multimillion dollardonation to USC. The China-born founder ofPasadena-based Cogent Inc. had previously donated$35 million to name the electrical engineering departmentin the Viterbi School of Engineering.Viterbi Dean Yannis Yortsos, Ph.D., said, “Workingwith our colleagues at the Keck School andelsewhere at USC, gifted engineering faculty andstudents working on nanotechnology will utilizetheir remarkable talent and expertise to attackcancer and hopefully lead to effective cures. Withthis transformative gift we are positioned to becomeworld leaders in the field.”The endowment will be used to support researchand development, both at the bench and clinicalscales, in the burgeoning field of nanomedicine forcancer. A fundamental component of research willbe on nanoscale delivery platforms. Encapsulatingnanoparticles and other promising applications ofnanotechnology will be pursued. New advances willalso be sought in biomedical imaging that will helpdetermine the delivery and targeting efficiencies ofthese treatments. In parallel, clinical research will beconducted to assess the efficacy of the resulting drugdelivery with in vivo studies.The institute will bridge research from engineeringand medicine. The recently launched programHTE@USC (Health, Technology and Engineeringat USC) between the two schools has already laida strong foundation for such collaborations and willbe leveraged to augment educational and trainingopportunities for medical and doctoral students whoparticipate in the institute’s research.“Ming Hsieh is an exemplary trustee and alumnus,”said Edward P. Roski Jr., chairman of the USCBoard of Trustees. “His generous gifts continueto advance the university and improve the lives ofpeople in our community, nation and world.”Ming Hsieh was born and raised in northernChina and worked his way to USC, where he earneda Bachelor of Science degree in electrical engineeringin 1983 and a Master of Science degree inelectrical engineering in 1984. In 1987, he foundedAMAX Technology and in 1990 founded thePasadena-based Cogent Inc., which revolutionizedautomated fingerprint identification.Photo by Jon Nalick
H O N O R I N G D O N O R SPhoto by Steve Cohn (left); Photo by Brian Morri (right)Gifts inspire and improve By Imelda ValenzuelaThe USC Health Sciences Campus celebrated over $20 million in recent gifts andpledges and honored 24 prominent donors at an Oct. 6 invitation-only reception.USC President C. L. Max Nikias, Ph.D., recognized the donors for their generoussupport of the Keck School of Medicine of USC, the USC Norris ComprehensiveCancer Center and Hospital, and the USC University Hospital.“The Keck School of Medicine of USC would not be the great school it is todaywithout your exemplary support,” said Nikias as he thanked the donors. “Our hospitalswould not be able to provide the highest standards of excellent care without yoursupport. Your gifts inspire our entire community to work harder, to reach for highergoals to improve and save lives here in Los Angeles and around the globe.”Keck School Dean Carmen A. Puliafito, M.D., M.B.A., hosted the reception. “Theresearch money, the money that you supply, helps us with conquering cancer, withFrom left, USC President C. L. Max Nikias, Ph.D., and his wife, Niki Nikias, withdonors Nancy and Carlton Spencer.new drugs, with new treatments, with new research facilities, with progress againstthe most debilitating diseases of our world including Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s andcardiac disease,” Puliafito said. “It will help train new physicians and create for ushere an academic medical center environment second to none. It’s been an excitingtime to be at USC, and the excitement has just begun.”Several donors have generously supported USC for decades, and some aregrateful patients who were recently treated at one of the USC-owned hospitals.Carlton Spencer was one of those patients. Spencer’s wife, Nancy, told her husband’sstory at the event. Three years ago, during a routine examination, his primarycare physician, Skip Barber, M.D., a Keck School graduate, discovered that Spencer’sheart was showing signs of extreme distress. Barber immediately referred Spencerto Vaughn A. Starnes, M.D., Hastings Distinguished Professor and chairman of theDepartment of Surgery, H. Russell Smith Foundation Chair for Cardiovascular ThoracicResearch, and surgeon-in-chief of the USC University Hospital and USC NorrisCancer Hospital. Spencer was admitted into heart surgery two days after his physical.Now fully recovered, Spencer, with his wife, donated $125,000 to the Keck Schoolfor primary care scholarships in honor of Barber.William H. Ahmanson, president of the Ahmanson Foundation and a leader inthe Los Angeles philanthropic community, also spoke at the event. “Los Angeles isfast becoming a destination city for health care,” said Ahmanson. “The Keck Schoolof Medicine is on the forefront of that industry. That’s why the Ahmanson Foundationhas such a strong tie to this school, because they are healing Los Angelenos andthey’re healing Americans.”Phil Manning M.D., left, emcee of theKeck School of Medicine 50-Year FellowsLuncheon, congratulates Norman Levan,M.D., on the Crystal K Award.Former department chair donates$2 million for medical ethics studyA gift of $2 million by former departmentchair Norman Levan, M.D., willsupport studies in medical ethics at theKeck School of Medicine of USC.An announcement of the Dr. NormanLevan Chair for Medical Ethics wasone of the highlights of the school’s50-Year Fellows Luncheon. Keck SchoolDean Carmen A. Puliafito, M.D.,M.B.A., presented the Crystal K Awardto Levan, in recognition of his gift toendow the chair.“Your commitment to ethicalbehavior by physicians is really a truecommitment to community service, todoing the right thing,” Puliafito saidin thanking Levan, the first chairmanof the Department of Dermatology.“We have a special program in medicalhumanities, and your chair will makeit possible for us to recruit a great newleader in this very important area.”Levan recounted his good fortune inknowing all the deans of the medicalschool since 1955. “It was a wonderfulexperience,” he said. “The deans gaveme a great deal of freedom to experimentwith all kinds of innovations; forexample, we had the first coursesin medical humanities and the firstcourses in medical ethics.”A Trojan alumnus, Levan contributeda major gift creating the USC NormanLevan Institute for Humanities andEthics in 2007.Levan originally enrolled as anEnglish major at USC. After earning hisM.D., he served in the Army MedicalCorps before opening a private practiceand returning to the university as avoluntary member of the medicalfaculty. From 1961-81 he chaired USC’sDepartment of Dermatology.The 50-Year Fellows Luncheon inthe Harry and Celesta Pappas Quadwelcomed medical school alumni whograduated 50 or more years ago, alongwith faculty members who taught them.keck.usc.edu KECK MEDICINE 27
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