One of the largest donations in San Diego history was made Monday to Rady Children’s Hospital by the hospital’s namesake. The $120 million will be used to allow patients’ genetics to tailor their medical care.
Rady Children’s Hospital chairman David Hale made the announcement.
"Ernest and Evelyne Rady, and family … have pledged $120 million to fund pediatric research and innovation at the institute," Hale said, followed by applause from a crowd that gathered for the event at a medical building near the hospital.
The people were applauding the creation of the Rady Pediatric Genomics and Systems Medicine Institute. The purpose of the institute is to offer patents personalized health care, based on their genetic profile.
One of the institute’s goals is to greatly expand the number of sequenced genomes the doctors can refer to, said Gabriel Haddad, physician-in-chief and chief scientific officer at Rady Children's Hospital and chairman of UCSD's Department of Pediatrics.
"We have to plan to do this one day, hopefully in the not too distant future, to be able to sequence the genome of every child who comes into Rady,” Haddad said.
But he added there’s a ways to go before this becomes a reality.
"This is not going to be tomorrow,” he said. “We plan to end up there because that's going to be really important if we want to develop a personalized approach to treatment and prevention, and so on, in kids."
One of the stars at the announcement was Ernest Rady, who has made a considerable fortune in a variety of businesses, including real estate and financial services. Rady joked about making the largest donation in the history of the San Diego children’s hospital.
"I had a hell of a lot more fun making it than I am giving it away,” he said.
Others pointed out that for a project this big $120 million is just the start.
"I think we want to build something that will be self-sustaining, ultimately, but at the beginning we need a boost like the one that we have today!" Haddad said.
The hospital board of trustees also has committed $40 million in funding for the institute. It will be housed in two facilities, one on Frost Street adjacent to the hospital and the other in the Torrey Pines area among other research institutes.
In 2006, the Rady family and American Assets Inc., the company Ernest Rady founded in 1967, donated $60 million to the hospital and it was renamed in the family's honor.
