UVA Will Use $100M Gift to Launch Biotech Hub

• The project is backed by a $100 million gift from Paul and Diane Manning.
• UVA hopes to make Charlottesville a research center similar to the North Carolina Research Triangle.
• The state will chip in $50 million for the new biotechnology institute.

A $100 million gift to the University of Virginia (UVA) will launch an institute dedicated to advanced biotechnology medical treatments.

UVA announced late last month that a gift from Paul and Diane Manning will fund a biotechnology research hub focused on new medical "translational" research practices such as cellular therapy, gene therapy, and drug delivery via nanotechnology.

The Mannings' $100 million gift will be a third of the institute funding, to go with $50 million from the state and $150 million from the university. UVA will name the institute the "Paul and Diane Manning Institute of Biotechnology."

"We live in an incredibly exciting time of discovery in medicine — and the Manning Institute will ensure UVA remains at the forefront of research and patient care," said UVA President Jim Ryan, according to UVA Today. "Paul and Diane Manning's extraordinary gift will mean new treatments and therapies for the patients who need them most, and I'm immensely grateful for their generosity and vision."

According to the UVA Today report, the institute will use tools less than a hair's width to deliver medicine to specific body areas to avoid cells that medicine may harm.

UVA hopes to achieve a similar standing to the North Carolina Research Triangle (Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill) by attracting talent and funding for research.

"The state's investment in the Paul and Diane Manning Institute of Biotechnology represents a bipartisan effort to provide the best health care possible for all Virginians while growing the state's economy, creating well-paying jobs and bolstering UVA Health's reputation as a world leader in cutting-edge biomedical research," said Todd Gilbert, Virginia's House of Delegates speaker.