A Penn State professor’s groundbreaking research has reached new heights after a $5 million donation.
Charles “Skip” Smith, a Penn State alumnus and philanthropist, has joined in the efforts of Penn State’s research on developing treatments for brain trauma patients.
The donation will go toward the research done by Gong Chen, a biology professor and the Verne M. Willaman Chair in Life Sciences in the Eberly College of Science.
Chen and his research team have recently developed a technology that in the future will lead to clinical therapy for those suffering from brain damage due to traumatic injuries, strokes, Alzhemier’s, and other neurodegenerative diseases.
The technology used by the research team is a cocktail of small molecules that can transform glial cells into functioning neurons, which cannot regenerate after brain damage, to help with brain repair. Eventually, the team hopes to be able to turn this technology into a drug that patients can take as a small pill. The team’s findings were published online on Oct. 15 in the journal Cell Stem Cell.
Smith’s donation will go toward funding for the research staff, lab equipment, and other materials needed for the research’s progression.
“I’m deeply grateful for Skip Smith’s generosity. Mr. Smith’s outstanding gift will allow my team and me to move our lab research to human clinical trials much faster, perhaps shortening the delivery of potential therapy to within 10 years,” Chen said. “Skip’s generosity will surely encourage more students to join us — not only for great science, but also for deep humanity. I myself would like to follow Skip Smith’s model and return generosity back to society.”
The generous donation made by Smith was not the first of its kind. In 2010, Smith donated $10 million that initiated the construction of The Arboretum at Penn State after a long-lived dream of the University for the site.
Now, with the donation to Penn State’s Eberly College of Science, Smith’s philanthropy has expanded with his commitment to help advance research at Penn State.
“It is truly inspiring to know that Dr. Chen and his team may be only a decade away from a treatment for Alzheimer’s and related diseases,” Smith said. “If my support can help to bring this exciting prospect within closer reach, then it will have paid itself back tenfold.”
Smith graduated from Penn State in 1948 with a degree in electrical engineering and continues to call State College his home.
