$21 million naming gift from Thea Berggren to fund quantum biology and medicine research at university
A $21 million gift to the University of Chicago will fund the establishment of a new center focused on quantum biology and medicine, the college announced.
Philanthropist Thea Berggren donated funds to establish the Berggren Center for Quantum Biology and Medicine, which integrates technology and biology to advance medical research.
“The establishment of the Berggren Center reflects a commitment to a powerful idea: that the deepest scientific insights often emerge when we bring distinct disciplines together in bold new ways,” University of Chicago President Paul Alivisatos said.
The goal is to discover and develop new diagnostics and therapies by applying quantum engineering to biology in the hope of creating potentially personalized treatments for diseases like cancer.
The Berggren Center will be within the Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering at the university.
Along with developing quantum tools in the biomedical field, the center aims to train interdisciplinary students who are knowledgeable in both quantum biology and medicine.
The $21 million will fund fellowships, conferences hosted at the center and other development projects.
The university said the Berggren Center “will launch immediately and is actively planning for fall.”
Professors Greg Engel and Julian Solway, who have worked with the Quantum Leap Challenge Institute for Quantum Sensing for Biophysics and Bioengineering, are set to direct the center.
“Fusing quantum physics and medicine is no small feat, but it opens the door to tools and discoveries we never thought possible,” Engel said in the release.
“This gift will help unite two very different scientific cultures in a common mission to improve human health.”