UCLA receives $10M donation for genetics research at Stein Eye Institute

UCLA has received a $10 million donation from a former faculty member to establish an ocular genetics center at the UCLA Stein Eye Institute.

The donation from Dr. Bronwyn Bateman, a former professor of ophthalmology and pediatrics at the David Geffen School of Medicine, will help cover startup costs for the center, as well as support research projects, university officials said.

“As a long-standing partner of Stein Eye, Bronwyn has helped advance many of our vision programs,” Dr. Bartly Mondino, director of the Stein Eye Institute, said in a statement. “We are grateful for this contribution, which will help position UCLA at the forefront of ocular genetics research and accelerate interdisciplinary science, innovative medicine and new technologies to benefit patients worldwide.”

According to the university, the UCLA Bronwyn Bateman Center for Ocular Genetics will focus on “clinical and translational science in ocular genetics, which seeks to address the genetic components of ophthalmic disease.”

“It is an honor to support the genetics program for the UCLA Stein Eye Institute, a leader in ophthalmology,” Bateman said. “Genetics is the future of medicine, and this center will support the current ophthalmology genetics faculty and provide resources for growth.”