Biotech entrepreneur donates $50 million to UC Irvine’s School of Biological Sciences

Irvine, California, June 15, 2024 – The University of California, Irvine has received a $50 million donation from Orange County biotech entrepreneur Charlie Dunlop to the School of Biological Sciences. Dean Frank LaFerla announced the gift to thousands of graduating students, faculty and family supporters at today’s commencement, where Dunlop was the featured speaker.

His gift will establish an endowed fund that will provide unrestricted support for academic and research activities within the school.

“This gift supports UC Irvine’s belief that human and environmental health are integrated and that wellness requires an evidence-based approach that engages all disciplines in the School of Biological Sciences,” said Chancellor Howard Gillman. “Charlie Dunlop’s dedication to this vision and his deep generosity will help UC Irvine set a standard that other US biology programs can follow.”

“I want to express my heartfelt appreciation to Charlie Dunlop for his extraordinary generosity and enduring commitment to advancing the life sciences and improving our society,” said LaFerla, chairman of the Dr. Lionel and Fay Ng Dean in Biological Sciences. “Thanks to him, the school will now enter a new era of discovery and excellence. Together, our students, faculty and all members of our life sciences community will embark on a journey of innovation and impact.”

In honor of Dunlop’s transformative contributions and pioneering spirit in biology and medicine, LaFerla announced the school’s renaming to the Charlie Dunlop School of Biological Sciences, setting an inspiring example for future students to innovate and implement groundbreaking discoveries.

About Charlie Dunlop

Dunlop is one of Orange County’s leading biotech scientists and entrepreneurs. Raised in Orange County and a graduate of UC San Diego, he founded Ambry Genetics in 1999 in a small office above a Harley-Davidson motorcycle shop after raising about $500,000 from friends and family.

The company became a pioneer in genetic testing and is the first in the world to offer tests such as hereditary cancer panels and clinical exome sequencing. Additionally, Dunlop advocated the open sharing of genetic data. This breakthrough has revolutionized the industry and catalyzed advances in health sciences globally. During his time at Ambry, Dunlop found that UC Irvine was a valuable source of scientific personnel, regularly hiring graduates in the biological sciences. Dunlop was president and chairman of the board of Ambry Genetics until it was sold to Konica Minolta in 2017.

“UC Irvine is a great asset to California, to the community and to Irvine,” Dunlop said. “It would have been impossible to build a business like Ambry without UC Irvine and the California system of higher education, so for me to give back to the system that produced me and most of Ambry’s employees seems like the right thing to do.” right thing to do.”

Dunlop is also a member of the School of Biological Sciences’ Dean’s Leadership Council and was also the featured speaker at the school’s 2016 commencement.

In 2007, Dunlop helped start the Mauli Ola Foundation, which provides hope and confidence to individuals living with genetic diseases. Harnessing the restorative powers of the ocean, the foundation introduced surfing and other ocean-based activities as natural therapy. Dunlop had read a historical article in the New England Journal of Medicine regarding the healing properties of saline for those with cystic fibrosis. An avid surfer, he learned that people with cystic fibrosis get actual relief and treatment from being in the ocean, which led Dunlop to combine his professional and personal passions to create the foundation.

“Himself and through the company he founded, Ambry Genetics, Charlie has been incredibly generous to UC Irvine, and we are proud and excited to name the School of Biological Sciences in recognition of his transformative gift,” said LaFerla, who is also a outstanding. Professor of Neurobiology and Behavior. “As a lifelong surfer, Charlie fully understands and is very supportive of our school’s mission of ‘mind, body, world’ – that to have a healthy mind and body, we must have a healthy planet. He exemplifies this in his work and the way he lives.”

About the Charlie Dunlop School of Biological Sciences

The School of Biological Sciences was one of the original divisions of UC Irvine when the campus opened in 1965. Chancellor Daniel G. Aldrich Jr. recruited a visionary and innovative leader, Edward A. Steinhaus, as founding dean, and he organized the school based on levels of analysis rather than the taxonomy that had been common practice. He rationalized that greater advances would result from grouping faculty studying similar biological processes as opposed to grouping individuals studying similar organisms. Revolutionary at the time, this organizational structure has been almost universally adopted in universities around the world.

With over 4,000 undergraduate students and 300 graduate students, the Charlie Dunlop School of Biological Sciences is currently one of the largest academic units at UC Irvine. Multidisciplinary research and academic opportunities exist in the areas of cancer and infectious diseases, developmental biology and genetics, environmental and evolutionary studies, gene expression mechanisms, neurodegeneration, learning and memory disorders, structural biology, stem cell therapies, and science education.

“My focus is biology because it’s the kind of science where dedication at the bench translates directly to success,” Dunlop said. “My experiences with children’s hospitals reaffirm the critical importance of our science. Whether we’re helping sick patients, supporting ecosystems, or conducting basic research, the advancement of our field is vital. That is why I have chosen to make this contribution to UC Irvine’s School of Biological Sciences.”

About UC Irvine’s Brilliant Future campaign: Publicly launched on October 4, 2019, the Bright Future campaign aims to raise awareness and support for UC Irvine. Engaging 75,000 alumni and raising $2 billion in philanthropic investments, UC Irvine seeks to reach new heights of excellence in student success, health and wellness, research and more. The Charlie Dunlop School of Biological Sciences plays a vital role in the success of the campaign. Learn more by visiting https://brilliantfuture.uci.edu/school-of-biological-sciences.

About University of California, Irvine: Founded in 1965, UC Irvine is a member of the prestigious Association of American Universities and is ranked among the nation’s top 10 public universities by US News & World Report. The campus has produced five Nobel laureates and is known for its academic achievements, leading research, innovation and mascot of Anteater. Led by Chancellor Howard Gillman, UC Irvine has more than 36,000 students and offers 224 degree programs. It is located in one of the safest and most economically vibrant communities in the world and is Orange County’s second largest employer, contributing $7 billion annually to the local economy and $8 billion statewide. For more on UC Irvine, visit www.uci.edu.

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