Oracle’s Larry Ellison gives $200M to USC for Cancer research

Oracle founder Larry Ellison has donated $200 million to fund a new center at the University of Southern California that will combine interdisciplinary research with the holistic prevention and treatment of cancer.

The gift, among the largest made to cancer research and treatment in recent years, will establish the Lawrence J. Ellison Institute for Transformative Medicine of USC. David B. Agus, professor at the Keck School of Medicine of USC and USC Viterbi School of Engineering, will lead the institute.

USC said institute will draw collaborators from across conventional health and wellness fields, as well as from a broad range of other disciplines such as physics, biology, math and engineering to study cancer and potential ways to prevent, detect and treat the disease. The institute will complement and integrate cancer research being conducted by faculty physicians and scientists across the university. Ellison’s gift will provide the lead investment for a state-of-the-art facility in west Los Angeles that will serve as the Ellison Institute’s home. The building will house interdisciplinary cancer research laboratories and an interactive care clinic. The institute will include a think tank, education and outreach, and a wellness program. “This investment by Larry Ellison in USC is as inspirational as it is momentous, and it will serve as a dynamic force for change in how we approach cancer treatment and prevention,” USC President C. L. Max Nikias said in a statement. “It is a concrete endorsement of USC’s vision to invest in the promise and potential of new technologies, and to support a bold push forward in how we achieve wellness.”