The University of Virginia (UVA) will establish a new gene therapy center with a major philanthropic contribution from technology entrepreneur and investor Vishal Suri and his wife, Anubha Suri, to accelerate research into treatments for complex diseases.
The gift will launch the Suri Center for Gene Therapy within UVA’s Paul and Diane Manning Institute of Biotechnology. It will combine the university’s expertise in genetic research with nanotechnology, RNA and focused ultrasound to develop safer and more effective gene therapies and accelerate their delivery to patients.
Vishal Suri said they chose UVA because of its biomedical research, health care and clinical capabilities, including the university’s National Cancer Institute-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center, the first of its kind in Virginia.
“Our hope is that the Suri Center for Gene Therapy will help turn promising advances in genetic science into treatments that can change patients’ lives,” Suri said.
The center will strengthen UVA’s existing genetic research program, which is investigating potential approaches to a range of diseases, including pediatric epilepsy and hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, the most common inherit...