A four-story, 350,000-square-foot facility that will house the Paul and Diane Manning Institute of Biotechnology is under construction at Fontaine Research Park.
UVA Health has received two anonymous $25 million estate gifts to support the University of Virginia’s Paul and Diane Manning Institute of Biotechnology. The $50 million of additional support for the institute enabled UVA Health to top its $1 billion fundraising goal in UVA’s Honor the Future campaign, which concludes this month.
“I’m deeply grateful for the generosity and vision of these donors, whose contributions will help us to realize the full potential of the Manning Institute, and for everyone who has helped UVA Health reach this milestone,” said UVA President Jim Ryan. “These extraordinary gifts will support the Manning Institute’s research and aid in developing new treatments for hard-to-treat or incurable diseases, which will change lives across the Commonwealth and beyond.”
A four-story, 350,000-square-foot facility that will house the Manning Institute is already under construction in Fontaine Research Park. Once complete, this state-of-the-art biomedical research, development and manufacturing facility will support the institute’s mission of generating new treatments and cures for the most challenging medical conditions, to the benefit of patients everywhere. The institute is expected to cultivate an ecosystem of biotechnology innovation in Central Virginia and drive economic growth across the Commonwealth. These efforts will be complemented by a statewide clinical trials network that will expand access to potential new treatments as they are developed and tested.
The Manning Institute was kickstarted in 2023 with a $100 million lead gift from its namesakes, philanthropists Paul and Diane Manning, which was followed by significant investments of $100 million from the Commonwealth and $150 million from UVA. The two estate gifts add to the institute’s momentum.
“I am so thankful for these two generous gifts, which build on the incredible support we have received from Paul and Diane Manning, state leaders and the University to launch the institute,” said Mark T. Esser, PhD, chief scientific officer and head of the Manning Institute. “UVA Health’s mission is to transform health and inspire hope, and these donations will enable us to be at the forefront of that transformative work for the health system.”
More than 52,000 donors have given to the Honor the Future campaign to support UVA Health’s patient care, research, education and community outreach missions. Together, these donors are helping the organization fulfill the goals of its 10-year strategic plan, an extension of the University’s Great and Good plan.
“Everyone at UVA Health is deeply appreciative for all the support we have received through the Honor the Future campaign,” said Mitchell H. Rosner, MD, UVA’s interim executive vice president for health affairs. “These donations are vital to our continued ability to support the incredible work that happens here every day to serve the residents of Virginia and beyond.”
The Honor the Future campaign is the largest in UVA’s history. It was launched publicly in October 2019 to coincide with the bicentennial of the University’s founding. More than $6 billion has been raised across UVA’s schools and units, exceeding a record-breaking $5 billion goal for the campaign, which officially ends June 30.
“Achieving this record-breaking fundraising milestone for UVA Health reflects the generosity of many alumni, grateful patients, community members and visionary philanthropists. We are beyond grateful for their confidence and support, which have positioned UVA Health to continue providing outstanding clinical care, advancing research, providing a top-tier medical and nursing education and improving the health and well-being of patients and families in our community long into the future,” said Ken Botsford, MD, the Honor the Future campaign’s vice chair for health who is a 1975 graduate of the College of Arts & Sciences and a 1979 graduate of the School of Medicine. “The success of this campaign is a testament to the physicians, nurses, researchers, faculty and UVA Health staff whose dedication and exceptionalism inspired these contributions.”
Supporting Patient Care
Recent philanthropic investments in patient-care programs and facilities include support for:
- The opening of UVA Health Children's Pediatric Neurodevelopmental and Behavioral Health clinicto provide comprehensive, interdisciplinary care for children’s mental, developmental and behavioral health needs.
- The expansion of UVA Health Children’s neonatal and pediatric intensive care units to ensure the region’s youngest and sickest patients have access to lifesaving critical care and the most advanced medical technology close to home.
- UVA Health’s new national program specializing in comprehensive care for Ehlers-Danlos syndrome and other hypermobility disorders, a difficult-to-diagnose collection of connective tissue disorders that cause pain and medical issues throughout the body.
- Upgrading and expanding the mother-baby unit within the Hylton Women’s and Children’s Center at UVA Health Prince William Medical Center to increase its capacity for world-class labor and delivery care and provide the latest innovations in care for families in Northern Virginia.
Investing in Breakthrough Research
Recent major gifts to UVA Health’s research program include:
- A $30 million gift from the Harrison and Mary Anderson Harrison Foundations to launch the Harrison Family Translational Research Center in Alzheimer’s and Neurodegenerative Diseases. This interdisciplinary research hub within the Manning Institute is bringing together leading neuroscientists and clinicians to develop new ways of diagnosing and treating Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson’s disease, Huntington’s disease and other devastating neurological conditions.
- A gift of more than $10 million from an anonymous donor for the Translational Orphan Blood Cancer Research Initiative, which focuses on new treatments and cures for leukemias, lymphomas and myelomas, including the rarest and most complex types of these diseases.
- Millions in seed funding for research targeting the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of solid tumor cancers, including diseases of the prostate, pancreas, breast, skin, brain, ovaries and more.
Bolstering Education
Private support for UVA Health’s educational mission includes:
- $135 million for medical and nursing school scholarships to ensure UVA Health continues to attract and support the most talented future physicians, nurses, scientists and healthcare leaders.
- 12 new endowed professorships to help UVA Health recruit and retain top-notch medical and nursing school faculty to provide the highest-quality patient care, conduct groundbreaking research and train the next generation of healthcare experts and pioneers.
- A founding endowment for UVA Health’s Leadership Institute, part of efforts to make UVA Health the best place to work by nurturing leaders within the organization.
Serving Communities
Philanthropic contributions to the community outreach mission include support for:
- The purchase of a state-of-the-art mobile health vehicle and community-based clinics in Charlottesville to increase healthcare access.
- Free healthcare screenings, health education programs, food insecurity programs and patient assistance funds in collaboration with community organizations and other partners.
- Earn While You Learn and other career-development programs to build a robust healthcare workforce pipeline across the state.
