Gladstone Institutes Launches COVID-19 Philanthropic Initiative

In response to the global COVID-19 crisis, Gladstone Institutes is mobilizing resources and pivoting research projects to fight the pandemic and prepare for future outbreaks. A team of virologists, stem cell researchers, medicinal chemists, CRISPR and artificial intelligence experts are collaborating to develop deployable diagnostic tools and targeted therapeutics. To support COVID-19 research efforts, Gladstone has identified key needs and priorities, including the President’s Coronavirus Research Fund, which would help labs pivot quickly and seize promising new opportunities.

“We can ensure that philanthropic gifts will be put to immediate use to accelerate the most promising and necessary COVID-19 research.”

Deepak Srivastava, MD

Gladstone scientists were instrumental in converting HIV/AIDS from a uniformly lethal disease into a chronic condition, and are now bringing the same urgency and focus to combatting COVID-19 in a comprehensive manner.

“At Gladstone, we have a history of leveraging our agility to respond to daunting biomedical challenges as they arise,” said Gladstone President Deepak Srivastava, MD. “We are expanding the scope of current virology projects and redirecting resources to address what has emerged as one of the greatest potential health care threats the world has ever faced.”

As scientists begin to unravel the complexities of the COVID-19 pandemic, private philanthropy will be critical to bringing promising diagnostics and therapeutics from the lab to the clinic as rapidly as possible.

“As daunting as this challenge is, there are extraordinary partnerships forming and collaborations taking place across the research community at all levels,” said Robert Wicks, vice president of philanthropy at Gladstone. “We want to help gather the full philanthropic potential of the Bay Area and do our part to direct it to where it is needed most, whether that is at Gladstone or elsewhere. This is an all-hands-on-deck situation and everyone is looking for how they can make a difference.”

Gladstone has the infrastructure and world-leading expertise to study the coronavirus in-house. As we scale up to serve as a research hub for the Bay Area, philanthropic support will help us add computation power, high-throughput capacity, and best-in-class tools and technologies.

“People are devastated by what is going on around them and they want to help,” said Srivastava. “As an independent research organization, we can ensure that philanthropic gifts will be put to immediate use to accelerate the most promising and necessary COVID-19 research.”

If you are interested in supporting Gladstone’s efforts, contact Robert Wicks or make a donation online to help overcome the global threat of COVID-19.