The Dr. John. T. Macdonald Foundation

Leadership gift from this loyal supporter of the University will allow collaborative teams of UM investigators to make major contributions to biomedical nanotechnology

The Dr. John T. Macdonald Foundation’s commitment to excellence in biomedical discovery and health care is vividly reflected in its longtime support of varied initiatives at the University of Miami Leonard M. Miller School of Medicine.

The foundation recently expanded its remarkable support of the University of Miami with a Momentum2 leadership gift to the University’s collaborative Biomedical Nanotechnology Institute. Thanks to this commitment, the University is poised to become an international leader in the fast-growing field of nanotechnology, in which scientists work with materials and devices on an atomic or molecular scale that could provide effective new tools for diagnosis and treatment of serious disease.

The institute will link investigators from the Miller School of Medicine with University colleagues from the College of Arts and Sciences and the College of Engineering to develop novel solutions to the technical challenges of nanotechnology discovery and to study and test its potential applications.

The foundation’s mission of providing funding for programs and projects designed to improve health was also the impetus for two major gifts made to the University during the first Momentum campaign. One of these gifts elevated the Miller School of Medicine’s programs in genetic research to world-class stature through the creation of the Dr. John T. Macdonald Foundation Department of Human Genetics. The foundation also established a signature program that made it possible for the Miller School of Medicine’s Department of Community and Family Health to provide comprehensive, high-quality primary health care services to children at nine Miami Dade schools. The newest gift brings the foundation’s total grants to the University and its Miller School of Medicine to $27.5 million.

The University’s nanotechnology research enterprise is led by the Miller School of Medicine’s Richard Cote, a renowned pathologist and acclaimed expert in nanotechnology. The Macdonald Foundation gift will provide for significant expansion of the initiative’s cadre of investigators, basic and translational research programs, and infrastructure.

Richard Cote
Miller School of Medicine faculty member Richard Cote, a renowned pathologist and nanotechnology expert, leads the University's collaborative Biomedical Nanotechnology Institute.