$5 Million gift from renowned former City of Hope scientist funds new academic center
photo: Paula MyersJohn J. Rossi, left, discusses ideas with budding scientists including graduate student Daniel Kim and postdoctoral fellow Pritsana Ehomchan. Such teaching moments will be common place in the Cabilly-Riggs Academic Center.
The new center will be housed within City of Hope’s Arnold and Mabel Beckman Center for Cancer Immunotherapeutics and Tumor Immunology. Now under construction, the academic center is named for Shmuel Cabilly and Arthur D. Riggs, Ph.D., director emeritus of City of Hope’s Beckman Research Institute. It is slated to open in 2009.
In the early ‘80s, Riggs and Cabilly — then a postdoctoral fellow in Riggs’ laboratory at City of Hope — set in motion discoveries that would eventually result in a completely new way to treat cancer.
The pair collaborated with scientists at Genentech on a novel method of making antibodies through recombinant DNA technology, the process in which scientists “edit” DNA to form DNA sequences that do not appear in nature. That work led to the development of significant cancer-fighting treatments including the drugs Herceptin, Rituxan and Avastin.
Cabilly is the first-named inventor of the Cabilly patent, the basis for numerous widely used drugs. Several pharmaceuticals are licensed under the Cabilly patent, including therapies for rheumatoid arthritis and an antibody to prevent organ rejection in kidney transplant patients.
“This gift continues the longstanding and collaborative relationship between Dr. Cabilly and City of Hope, which has enabled scientific advances that have significantly improved the lives of patients with life-threatening diseases,” said Michael A. Friedman, M.D., president and chief executive officer of City of Hope. “It is fitting that this generous gift from the Cabillys will support a vibrant academic center for students in the biological sciences to pursue and uncover their own scientific discoveries.”
Cabilly and his wife, Orly, both have strong ties to City of Hope. While Cabilly served as a postdoctoral researcher in Riggs’ laboratory, Orly worked as a research technician in the laboratory of John J. Rossi, Ph.D., now Lidow Family Research Chair and dean of the graduate school.
“This gift represents our belief in the impact of City of Hope’s research and education programs,” Cabilly said. “We believe strongly in giving researchers the freedom and resources to explore new scientific avenues and to pursue innovative ideas to fight life-threatening diseases.”
The center is a fitting acknowledgment of the impact and influence of Cabilly and Riggs in science and the training of subsequent scientists. “Dr. Cabilly was trained in immunology. I have a long- standing interest in immunology, so it is most appropriate that the Cabilly-Riggs Academic Center is the ground floor of the new Arnold and Mabel Beckman Center, which is largely devoted to research in immunology,” said Riggs, a researcher at City of Hope for more than three decades.“This gift from the Cabilly family will support an array of new initiatives to improve human welfare through scientific advances while offering a robust learning environment for future generations of scientists.”
Added Rossi: “This generous gift will have a long-lasting impact on our graduate school and the educational experience of our students by enhancing our ability to integrate clinical and academic programs.”
Cabilly is the founder of Ethrog Biotechnologies Ltd., which is now a subsidiary of Invitrogen Corporation Inc. Ethrog Biotechnologies Ltd., located in Israel, is dedicated to the development, production and commercialization of advanced tools for biological research. The City of Hope Graduate School of Biological Sciences is a fully accredited education program that offers students both academic coursework and practical laboratory training to prepare them for careers in academic, medical or pharmaceutical and biotech industry organizations.