The Impact of Philanthropy
From the Past to the Future of the School
At Cambridge, philanthropy is a catalyst for global change and often accelerates our successes. Philanthropy has also been central to the School of Clinical Medicine’s growth, research excellence, and global impact. Since the School’s founding in 1976, philanthropic support has enabled major buildings, institutes, posts, and programmes that have shaped the School’s position within Europe’s largest life‑sciences cluster.
Philanthropy empowers the School to lead transformative breakthroughs in health research, education, and innovation that address the world’s most urgent challenges. Visionary philanthropy is a long and historic Cambridge tradition that today is more relevant than ever as Higher Education and research funding have become increasingly challenging.
It was a legacy gift that established Addenbrooke’s Hospital. In 1719, Dr John Addenbrooke left £4,500 in his Will to establish a hospital in Cambridge, aimed at providing care for the poor. In 1766, Addenbrooke’s Hospital officially opened on Trumpington Street with 20 beds, becoming a general hospital following an Act of Parliament.
Since those earliest days, philanthropy has made an extraordinary impact on the School of Clinical Medicine and the Cambridge Biomedical Campus. Partnerships, private donors, and institutions from around the world have helped to write the School’s narrative in inspired and creative ways.
From the Past to the Future of the School
At Cambridge, philanthropy is a catalyst for global change and often accelerates our successes. Philanthropy has also been central to the School of Clinical Medicine’s growth, research excellence, and global impact. Since the School’s founding in 1976, philanthropic support has enabled major buildings, institutes, posts, and programmes that have shaped the School’s position within Europe’s largest life‑sciences cluster.
Philanthropy empowers the School to lead transformative breakthroughs in health research, education, and innovation that address the world’s most urgent challenges. Visionary philanthropy is a long and historic Cambridge tradition that today is more relevant than ever as Higher Education and research funding have become increasingly challenging.
It was a legacy gift that established Addenbrooke’s Hospital. In 1719, Dr John Addenbrooke left £4,500 in his Will to establish a hospital in Cambridge, aimed at providing care for the poor. In 1766, Addenbrooke’s Hospital officially opened on Trumpington Street with 20 beds, becoming a general hospital following an Act of Parliament.
Since those earliest days, philanthropy has made an extraordinary impact on the School of Clinical Medicine and the Cambridge Biomedical Campus. Partnerships, private donors, and institutions from around the world have helped to write the School’s narrative in inspired and creative ways.
In 2023 an important new venture was established to accelerate work in pandemic preparedness with a new endowed Professorship in Global Health at Cambridge. The School of Clinical Medicine joined forces with the University of Hong Kong and the International Vaccine Institute, with the generous support of the Hong Kong Jockey Club Charities Trust, to advance research in this critical area.
The exceptional support of Sir Ka-shing Li and alumna Solina Chau has been indispensable in the pursuit of patient-centred scientific discovery and improved treatment options for cancer patients. The Li Ka Shing Foundation’s philanthropy has enabled impactful advances via the Li Ka Shing Early Cancer Institute, the Li Ka Shing Centre and the Li Ka Shing Chair in Oncology, empowering the University to continue to make enormous strides in changing the story of cancer.
An anonymous bequest of £1 million helped the Early Cancer Institute, which opened in 2022, invest in facility and equipment upgrades to enable cutting-edge science, including essential improvements to tissue culture facilities. Further to this, Shirley English was inspired to give by her late brother Paul Lonnen’s experience with invasive treatment for oesophageal cancer. Her legacy gift to the Institute was to support early research into oesophageal cancer in memory of Paul and she was gratified that the Institute could accept giving that was allocated for a specific area.
The Victor Phillip Dahdaleh Heart & Lung Research Institute also opened in 2022 and brings together the largest concentration of scientists and clinicians in cardiovascular and respiratory medicine in Europe, in recognition of the pressing need to accelerate research into the relentless, growing challenges posed by heart and lung diseases, and to generate therapies. The building was named in recognition of the £16 million donation from Dr Dahdaleh, who has since provided a further £4 million towards an Endowment Fund at the Institute and £1 million to establish an endowed PhD studentship at Trinity College for a student working within the Institute. A previous gift from Dr Dahdaleh enabled timely research into COVID-19.
Philanthropist and alumna Solina Chau with Vice-Chancellor Professor Deborah Prentice at the Guild of Cambridge Benefactors induction.
Dr Victor Phillip Dahdaleh was presented with a framed copy of a Sir Winston Churchill speech at the HLRI opening in 2023.
The Jeffrey Cheah Biomedical Centre (JCBC) building houses the Milner Institute, the Cambridge Stem Cell Institute and the Cambridge Institute of Therapeutic Immunology & Infectious Disease.
Members of Theo Chalmers' family with 2025 Theo Chalmers EDI Prize Winners Katie Diss and Maddie Mitchell at the School's 50th Anniversary in June 2026. Image: Nordin Ćatić.
The Jeffrey Cheah Biomedical Centre (JCBC), founded in 2020, brings together the Cambridge Institute of Therapeutic Immunology and Infectious Disease, the Cambridge Stem Cell Institute and the Milner Therapeutics Institute. It was made possible by the generosity of Tan Sri Sir Jeffrey Cheah, a longstanding supporter of Collegiate Cambridge – and is a perfect example of philanthropy with global impact, as the entire Institute pivoted to focus on COVID-19 research.
Today, JCBC research focuses on therapeutics, diagnostic and regenerative medicine. JCBC scientists are also working on new treatments, especially of immune-related diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis, inflammatory bowel disease and type-1 diabetes, while others are examining therapeutic approaches for leukaemia, neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s, and progressive autoimmune diseases such as multiple sclerosis.
Cambridge has a long history as a global leader in autism research through its world-class Autism Research Centre. A landmark gift from philanthropist K. Lisa Yang brings an incredible opportunity for Cambridge to transform the health and wellbeing of autistic children and their families. The £25.9 million donation – the largest single philanthropic gift to the School of Clinical Medicine since its founding – ensures a sustainable funding base for autism research at Cambridge. The gift will create The K. Lisa Yang Centre for Autism Research which will accelerate collaboration with researchers at Harvard and MIT. The donation will also create The K. Lisa Yang Autism Clinical Centre, to be based in the new Cambridge Children’s Hospital. The Clinical Centre will enable evidence-based interventions for the autism community across the UK and globally.
Alumnus Dr Ron Zimmern graduated in 1971, before the School was established, but returned as one of its very first University Lecturers in Medicine and taught the School’s first clinical students. Dr Zimmern created the Public Health Genetics Unit at Cambridge in 1997 and its successor, the PHG Foundation, in 2007. His philanthropic giving over 25 years has had a tremendous impact on the School’s efforts across public health and primary care.
Dr Theodore Chalmers was an outstanding clinician, teacher, and leader of UK medicine who worked tirelessly to establish the School. He became renowned as an exceptional teacher and mentor and for his efforts to enable those less well-represented in the medical profession to benefit from Cambridge's teaching and training. A group of alumni whom Theo taught during the 1970s set up the Theo Chalmers Memorial Fund. This philanthropic gift created an annual prize to recognise clinical students who are engaged in improving Equality, Diversity, and Inclusivity in the University and the wider community.
Student support giving is becoming increasingly vital, especially in areas like medical student hardship and PhD studentships. A generous donation to the School established a Clinical Medical Student Hardship Fund: the ‘Between the Cracks Bursaries’ (BTCB). These bursaries enable students to go on international electives and attend conferences; support travel costs for placements; give students the freedom to continue social activities and extracurricular pursuits; and allow them to focus on their studies without the pressure and stresses of financial concerns. The total giving committed to the BTCB is £1.5 million.
Jennifer Read's family endowed a PhD scholarship at the VPD-HLRI in their parents’ memory. The Raymond C. Read and Lillian J. Gostick PhD Studentship will focus on epidemiology, public health, global health, or infectious disease research. This endowment continues the legacy of academic excellence and global impact embodied by the late Raymond C. Read MD PhD (Selwyn 1941).
Keith and Hazel Satchell have supported two PhD students at the MRC Mitochondrial Biology Unit and the Cambridge Institute for Medical Research (CIMR) researching HSP SPG7 (Hereditary Spastic Paraplegia), a muscle deterioration disease. David Soanes has funded the Michael House PhD studentship at CIMR in memory of his late nephew who died at three weeks old of a rare mitochondrial disease.
Most recently, alumnus David Wang and Amanda Chi endowed the Chi-Wang Studentship, a collaboration between CIMR, Jesus College, and Cambridge Children’s Research Institute (CCRI). The scholarship is a unique opportunity to pursue a PhD in biomedical sciences, focusing on the molecular mechanisms of neurological diseases affecting children and young people.
Hazel Satchell PhD student Eleni Theiaspra.
Michael House PhD student Jack Welland.