Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute

Former Burnham Institute for Medical Research logo

William H. Fishman, M.D., Ph.D., and his wife, Lillian Waterman Fishman, founded the La Jolla Cancer Research Foundation in 1976 after retiring from Tufts University School of Medicine. The Foundation focused on oncodevelopment, the study of developmental biology in conjunction with oncology.

In 1996, the Foundation was renamed The Burnham Institute in honor of San Diego businessman Malin Burnham after he joined with an anonymous donor to contribute $10 million; in 2006, it was renamed the Burnham Institute for Medical Research. In 2007, T. Denny Sanford gave the Institute $20 million through Sanford Health, a hospital which had received significant donations from T. Denny Sanford previously, allowing it to create the Sanford Children's Health Research Center, which has sites in Sioux Falls, South Dakota and La Jolla, CA, the latter within the campus of SBP.

In 2008, SBP was awarded a $97.9 million grant by NIH to establish a high-throughput screening center.[2]

In 2010, the Institute adopted the name Sanford-Burnham Medical Research Institute following a $50 million pledge of support from Sanford.[3] An anonymous gift of $275 million was made in 2014. In 2015, the Institute changed its name again to Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute following a $100 million gift from philanthropist Conrad Prebys.[4]

SBP was founded with its primary focus on cancer research. The institute employs more than 700 people. SBP ranks consistently among the world's top 25 organizations for its research impact, according to Thomson Scientific data. It also ranks among the top three research institutes in the United States in National Institutes of Health grant funding.

The institute is home to four research centers:

• NCI-designated Cancer Center
• Neuroscience and Aging Research Center
• Infectious and Inflammatory Disease Center
• Sanford Children's Health Research Center

• 1971: Eva Engvall, one of the scientists who invented ELISA in 1971, worked at SBP. She continues to serve as an Adjunct Professor.
• 1984: Erkki Ruoslahti discovered cell adhesion regulator RGD
• 1988: Erkki Ruoslahti took art in the ollaborative discovery of the role TGF beta plays in tissue scarring. )
• 1992: John C. Reed observed that the activity of common anti-cancer drugs requires “cell suicide” of the cancer cells (apoptosis) and subsequently discovered novel proteins important in apoptosis
• 1997: Erkki Ruoshlahti fiscovered peptides that home to specific organs. These peptides were later used as targeting elements to deliver nanoparticles into tumors and other sites of disease
• 2001: Robert Liddington solved the 3-dimensional structure of the anthrax toxin, leading to the creation of the world’s most potent chemical inhibitor of anthrax
• 2009: Robert Liddington solved the crystal structure of the influenza hemagglutinin (H5) in complex with a broad spectrum neutralizing antibody

A robotic arm used in high-throughput screening in operation at the La Jolla campus.

SBP has working relationships with the University of California, San Diego, The Scripps Research Institute, the Salk Institute for Biological Studies, and the Mayo Clinic.

SBP also collaborates with pharmaceutical companies to move research breakthroughs from the lab out to the public. Recent agreements include partners such as Lilly, Daiichi-Sankyo, and Boehringer Ingelheim.

Established in 2006, SBP's Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences offers a Ph.D. degree in Biomedical Sciences. In 2015, SBP achieved accreditation with the Western Association of Schools and Colleges. SBP also employs postdoctoral fellows; there are typically around 125 postdocs training at SBP at any time.

• Official website