Dornsife Gift Establishes Brain Imaging Center at USC
David Dornsife and his wife Dana have given an $8 million lead gift to
establish a Cognitive Neuroscience Imaging Center headquartered at USC
College.
The new center will house a state-of-the-art functional magnetic
resonance imaging (fMRI) scanner. The non-invasive fMRI system provides
researchers with a “real time” view into the living brain, allowing
them to see not only what the brain looks like, but also what’s
happening and where. Color changes on the scans reveal the precise
parts of the brain that become active when a subject performs a
specific task, such as reading, seeing a face or tapping a finger.
Already, fMRI studies have led to a rush of new discoveries about the
organization of the human brain, shedding light on the biological bases
of difficult-to-study functions such as memory, sensation and
creativity. Access to this indispensable tool will speed up the pace of
human brain research at USC, and lead to new insights into the
brain-based disorders and diseases that afflict more than 55 million
Americans.
Mr. Dornsife, a USC trustee and chairman of the board of the Herrick
Corp. and Gillig Corp., is also vice president of the Hedco Foundation
and a 1965 graduate of the USC Marshall School of Business. His family
has a long history of promoting teaching and research at USC.
“As part of the USC community, my family and I have experienced
first-hand the benefit of the high-quality education and research
provided by USC,” says Dornsife. “I can think of no better way to
support the university’s efforts to advance research than to jumpstart
the Cognitive Neuroscience Imaging Center. We’re confident USC will use
this gift to make major discoveries and strengthen its position as a
major player in the field.”
The gift continues a history of support from the Dornsife family. David
Dornsife’s parents, Harold and Ester, were USC alumni and generous
supporters of USC until their deaths in 1999 and 2000, respectively.
“Dana and David’s generous gift is a particularly meaningful extension
of an exemplary family legacy promoting teaching and research at USC
and reflects their esteem for the university and its programs,” says
USC President Steven B. Sample. “We are thrilled to accept this
opportunity to name the Dana and David Dornsife Cognitive Neuroscience
Imaging Center and are grateful for this vital support.”
Through the Hedco Foundation, the Dornsife family’s philanthropy has
helped create the Hedco Auditorium in USC’s Seeley G. Mudd Building,
the Hedco Petroleum and Chemical Engineering Building, the Hedco
Neurosciences Building and the Hedco Molecular Biology Laboratories, as
well as the Ester Dornsife Chair in Biological Sciences and the Harold
Dornsife Neurosciences Chair in USC College.
“Thanks to the vision of the Dornsife family, neuroscience has become
one of our strongest and most extensive research areas and has been key
in our growth as a premier research institution,” says Joseph Aoun,
dean of USC College and holder of the Anna H. Bing Dean’s Chair. “The
Dornsifes’ gift is critical to keeping our program competitive and will
help us recruit more prominent faculty and the best students.”
The Dornsifes’ support will provide funds to launch construction of the
$16 million center, which requires a specially designed building to
house the large magnet and other sensitive equipment at the heart of
the fMRI scanner.
Work is expected to begin this winter on the 2,500 square-foot
building, which will feature the scanning room, a subject preparation
room, offices and a networked seminar room that will be used to teach
imaging methods to students from all USC campuses. Currently, there is
a high demand for researchers trained in advanced imaging technologies.
Optimized for research, as opposed to clinical use, the center will
feature the latest in computational infrastructure, enabling real-time,
interactive data analysis and visualization; large-scale, sharable data
storage (vital for neuroinformatics research); remote observation and
other advanced capabilities.
The facility, which will be overseen by the Provost’s Neuroscience
Advisory Group, is designed to allow scientists at the USC Health
Sciences Campus or other remote locations to take an active part in
experiments, fostering collaborations among faculty across the
university and integrating university-wide teaching efforts.
USC faculty plan to undertake fMRI studies that will lead to new
understandings of how the brain processes learning, emotions, spoken
language, reading acquisition and visual information, and how the brain
generates movement. Comparative fMRI studies can also provide insight
into the roots of aberrant behaviors like violence, and learning
deficits, like dyslexia, by revealing differences in brain function.
Larry Swanson, director of the USC Neuroscience Program, and holder of
the Milo Don and Lucille Appleman Professorship in Biological Sciences
at USC College, says: “The Dornsife’s support of the new facility
ensures that research into the mysteries and wonders of the brain will
continue to flourish at USC.”
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