Beckman Center for Molecular and Genetic Medicine
| Established | 1989 |
|---|---|
| Director | Lucy Shapiro |
| Key people | Paul Berg |
| Location | Stanford University, Stanford, California, California, United States of America |
| Address | 279 Campus Drive West, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA 94305-5301 |
| Website | http://beckman.stanford.edu/ |
The Beckman Center for Molecular and Genetic Medicine is an interdisciplinary center, part of Stanford School of Medicine at Stanford University, Stanford, California. Considered a "unique facility", it was one of the first research centers to take a translational medicine approach to molecular and medical genetics.
An interdisciplinary center for molecular and genetic medicine at the Stanford School of Medicine was proposed in the 1980s by Paul Berg,Arthur Kornberg,Donald Kennedy and others. Berg has said, "At the time, our goal was to focus on the molecular and genetic basis of disease as the starting point for new forms of medicine... We wanted to improve the process by which studies at the most fundamental level could be translated into medical practice." This type of "bench-to-bedside" approach has since been termed translational medicine.
The center was privately funded. Paul Berg obtained the support of philanthropists Arnold O. Beckman (1900-2004) and his wife Mabel (1900-1989), which was critical to establishing the center. The Beckmans agreed to donate $12 million over 5 years, approximately 1/5 of the cost of the new center, through the Arnold and Mabel Beckman Foundation. In addition, Beckman promoted the project to others who contributed an approximately equal amount. As of 2004[update] the Beckman Center for Molecular and Genetic Medicine is one of five institutions which receive support from the Arnold and Mabel Beckman Foundation on an ongoing basis. The Howard Hughes Medical Institute, headed by Donald S. Fredrickson was also a major supporter of the center.
Paul Berg, who had received a Nobel Prize in 1980, was appointed as the first director of the center in 1985. In addition to the existing Department of Biochemistry, two new departments were created within the center: Molecular and Developmental Biology and Molecular and Cellular Physiology. The Howard Hughes Medical Institute Unit of Molecular and Genetic Medicine was also included in the Beckman Center. Establishment of the center enabled Stanford to substantially expand its faculty, creating 20 new positions in the Beckman Center in addition to those already in the medical school. To connect the various departments and researchers, Berg officially established the Program in Molecular and Genetic Medicine as a unified program "for all those interested in molecular and genetic approaches to biological question, and to provide access to funding, facilities, and teaching opportunities."
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