$23 Million Singleton Gift Funds UCI Brain Scanners and New Hall

University of California, Irvine researchers will gain access to advanced imaging technology and a new facility following a major donation from local philanthropists. The financial support aims to improve the early detection of Alzheimer’s disease and other neurological conditions.

Cary and Will Singleton have committed $23 million to the university’s Institute for Memory Impairments and Neurological Disorders, known as UCI MIND. Of that total, $10 million is designated for the purchase of new brain scanners. The remaining $13 million will fund the construction of Ann Hutchinson Quilter Hall, the institute’s future headquarters.

Joshua Grill, director of UCI MIND, stated that the new equipment allows scientists to identify features of Alzheimer’s disease in living patients. Previously, these specific features were often detectable only after a person had died. The new building is a five-story structure on the UCI School of Medicine campus, with an expected opening date of 2029.

The Singleton gift follows an $80 million funding package for the institute last year. That prior sum included a $50 million gift from the Quilter family to establish the new building. The expanded space is designed to accommodate the institute’s current faculty of 75 and support additional research programs.

The Orange County Community Foundation facilitated the Singleton donation through its donor-advised fund. Grill noted that the couple held several meetings before finalizing the gift. He said the idea of enhancing the impact of the new building resonated with the family. The Singletons live in Newport Beach and have supported various charitable organizations in the region.

The couple previously donated $40 million in 2020 to the Pacific Neuroscience Institute Brain Center at Providence St. John’s Health Center in Santa Monica. Cary Singleton serves on the board of that health center. They also founded the Singleton Foundation for Financial Literacy and Entrepreneurship in 2015, which uses digital media to teach financial concepts to younger generations.

UCI MIND is one of 35 Alzheimer’s disease research centers in the United States funded by the National Institutes on Aging. In September, the institute received an $18 million, five-year federal grant. This funding supports a multi-center study led by Dr. S. Ahmad Sajjadi, an associate professor of neurology, focusing on a form of dementia called LATE that affects up to 40% of older adults.

The center is also preparing for a clinical trial that tests two therapies targeting brain plaques and tangles. Grill said the trial will be among the first to test both therapies in combination in the same patient. Over the past five years, the center has seen five FDA approvals for Alzheimer’s disease treatments, including two drugs intended to treat agitation associated with the disease.