Ernest Rady Family Pledges $120 Million to Support Institute
San Diego – August 4, 2014 – Rady Children’s Hospital-San Diego has taken a major step forward in the research of childhood diseases with the establishment of the Rady Pediatric Genomics and Systems Medicine Institute at Rady Children’s. Ernest Rady and family have made yet another extraordinary investment in the health and well-being of children by pledging $120 million to support pediatric research and innovation at the Institute. The gift is the largest donation ever made to Rady Children’s Hospital Foundation. Rady Children’s Board of Trustees has committed an additional $40 million in funding to support the Institute.
“After more than one and one half years of evaluating the design and mission of an Institute at Rady Children’s, this Institute will assemble a team of world class scientists, researchers and clinicians who will focus their talents on preventing, diagnosing, treating and curing childhood disease through genomics and systems medicine research,” said David F. Hale, Chairman of the Board. “The Institute will work closely with UC San Diego and establish relationships with other academic and research institutions, companies involved in genomics research and other children’s hospitals to advance the mission of the Institute,” said Hale.
“The commitment Ernest Rady and the Board has made is truly transformative,” said Donald Kearns, M.D., President of Rady Children’s. “This Institute and gift will secure Rady Children’s place at the leading edge of research, discovery and innovation into childhood disease and injury, and set national and international standards for pediatric care.”
“As we move into an exciting new era of medicine it is our responsibility to encourage the ambitious research and innovation that will accelerate the process by which discoveries are made and translated into cures,” said Mr. Rady.
Discoveries in genomics and the resulting emergence of personalized medicine hold unprecedented promise, yet the methods and resources for translation into cures and treatments are still to be identified. This gift will allow Rady Children’s to invest these funds in the highest and most current needs to keep pace with new technology and stay on the cutting edge of genomics and systems medicine. It is planned that the Institute will be housed in two facilities, 7910 Frost Street, adjacent to Rady Children’s, and a location in the Torrey Pines area, situated among other distinguished research institutes.
Mr. Rady served as Chair of the Children’s Hospital and Health Center Board from 1990 to 1993, during which time the Board oversaw construction of the hospital’s Rose Pavilion. He also served as a member of that same Board, and as a member of the Children’s Hospital-San Diego Board, in the 1980s and ‘90s. During that time, Mr. Rady and his wife, Evelyn, made several major donations to Children’s; the main entrance lobby and the second floor Medical/Surgical Center of the Rose Pavilion are named for Dr. Max and Rose Rady, a tribute to Mr. Rady’s parents. In 2006, in recognition of a $60 million gift by the Rady family and American Assets, Inc., the company Mr. Rady founded in 1967, the Board of Trustees voted unanimously to rename the hospital Rady Children’s Hospital-San Diego.
“Not only will generations of children benefit from Mr. Rady’s extraordinary legacy of giving, our entire region is the better for it,” said Paul Hering, Chair, Rady Children’s Foundation Board. “Very few people in the world have succeeded in making such a positive, lasting philanthropic impact on our children now and in the future.”
About Rady Children’s Hospital-San Diego:
Rady Children’s Hospital-San Diego is a 520-bed pediatric care facility providing the largest source of comprehensive pediatric medical services in San Diego, Southern Riverside and Imperial counties. Rady Children’s is the only hospital in the San Diego area dedicated exclusively to pediatric healthcare and is the region’s only designated pediatric trauma center. In June 2014, U.S. News & World Report ranked Rady Children’s among the best children’s hospitals in the nation in all ten pediatric specialties the magazine surveyed. For more information, visit www.rchsd.org and find us on Facebook, Twitter,Vimeo and YouTube.
Media Contact: Ben Metcalf
858-966-8579(o)
619-822-8593 (c)
bmetcalf@rchsd.org