Perot Family hands $50 million UT Southwestern to further their Medical Scientist Training Program according to a Dallas Morning News article. They say,
“A $50 million donation from the Perot family will pave way for the expansion of one of the top medical research degree programs in the nation, UT Southwestern Medical Center announced Thursday.
The gift will establish a permanent endowment for UT Southwestern’s dual M.D./Ph.D degree program, which trains medical researchers and is one of 54 such programs in the country that is supported by the National Institutes of Health.
The program will be renamed the Perot Family Scholars Medical Scientist Training Program. Funding will allow for more students to be accepted into the program and expand research disciplines to include biomedical engineering, computational biology, bioinformatics and data science, according to a news release.
According to the news release, the funding will help UT Southwestern recruit students from elite U.S. colleges and allow talented researchers to stay in the U.S. for their careers. The program admits about 10 to 12 students each year, according to Russell Rian, a UT Southwestern spokesman.”
Of course, both donee and donor are delighted to share a common goal towards the advancement of medicine according to a Dallas Innovates article which says,
“This extraordinary gift provides a permanent foundation at UT Southwestern for this distinctive dual-degree program that will not only benefit top UT Southwestern students, but also help address a disturbing national trend in the diminishing number of fully trained physician-scientists,” Daniel K. Podolsky, M.D., president of UT Southwestern Medical Center, said in a statement. “The Perot family’s beneficent support further cements their historical commitment to the continuous advancement of academic medicine and its benefits.”
“Ross was an enthusiastic supporter of the Medical Scientist Training Program because he considered it to be one of our best investments in people and intellect,” Margot Perot, widow of the late H. Ross Perot Sr., said in a statement. “Our family is delighted to sustain our support and association with the MSTP program. We know that it will yield enormous rewards in the years to come. We are certain our funds will go far to train young scientists destined to make significant medical breakthroughs in the future.”
Currently, UT Southwestern is recognized as the number one global healthcare institution and is among the best institutions for global life sciences.
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