The Tianqiao and Chrissy Chen Institute is a non-profit institute founded by husband and wifeTianqiao Chen and Chrissy Luo with the aim of supporting study into the human brain. In 2016 the couple committed US$1 billion to support the institute’s work, which focuses on research in three core areas – brain discovery, brain treatment and brain development. Towards that end, the institute supports interdisciplinary research concerning neuroscience, particularly research on brain mechanics, perception, - Chen Institute and the impact of perception on behavior and well-being. - Bloomberg - Yoolim Lee - August 15, 2017
History
Background
The Chen Institute was founded by Chrissy and Tianqiao Chen, both philanthropists known for co-founding the Chinese conglomerate Shanda Group in 1999. They decided to create the Chen Institute to fund various brain-related research initiatives and institutions, - Becker's Hospital Review - Alyssa Rage - August 17, 2017 citing a project by Caltech scientist David J. Anderson as being particularly inspirational. Upon seeing Richard A Andersen's, who along with David J. Anderson directs part of T&C Chen Institute, mind-machine brain interface help a quadriplegic use thoughts to control a robotic arm on television, - Inside Philanthropy -Tate Williams - December 13, 2016 they flew from Singapore to Caltech in Pasadena, California to meet Anderson in person. The couple subsequently set aside $1 billion to donate to related efforts on brain-related treatment, as well as research and development. - The Chronicle of Higher Education - Mimi Leung - December 21, 2016 They then spent two years researching possible partners. In March 2017, the Tianqiao and Chrissy Chen Institute announced a plan to annually donate around $100 million each year. With the goal of " the ball to whoever is closest to the goal," new proposals from universities would be gauged for at least a year each, and after that point, money would be donated to scientists directly.
Caltech institute
In its first donation, - Modern Healthcare - Dave Barkholz - December 7, 2016 on December 8, 2016 it was announced that the Chen Institute was donating $115 million to fund the formation of the Tianqiao and Chrissy Chen Institute for Neuroscience at Caltech. The Chens stated that they selected Caltech as the first recipient because of the school's entrepreneurial and interdisciplinary approach to the field. The $115 million Caltech donation resulted in some controversy in Chinese academia, with arguments made that the donations would have been more beneficial to a Chinese university. Other academics defended the donation on the grounds that Chinese universities were often less transparent, - Beijing Review - Chris Surtees - January 5, 2017 - China Daily - December 24, 2016 noting that the Chens had previously withheld gifts to Chinese institutions when they refused to provide usage reports. The funds were set aside to establish the new institute's building and provide Caltech with continuous resources for neuroscience research, with direction of that research to be decided by the university. It was announced that the upcoming building would serve as the administrative center for the Tianqiao and Chrissy Chen Institute for Neuroscience, - Pasadena Now - Brandon Villalovos - December 6, 2017 and house five interdisciplinary research centers which together formed "the core of the Chen Institute." The university explained that the research complex - Becker's Hospital Review - Ayla Ellison - December 8, 2016 would combine "biology, engineering, chemistry, physics, computer science and the social sciences to tackle brain function in an integrated, comprehensive way." In August 2017, it was announced that David J. Anderson would serve as director of the Tianqiao and Chrissy Chen Institute for Neuroscience. Also that month, plans for the new Caltech building were heard by the design commission of Pasadena. The groundbreaking of the Tianqiao and Chrissy Chen Neuroscience Research Building took place in December 2017. With construction to begin in January 2018, the opening was scheduled for the fall of 2020.
In November 2017, the Tianqiao and Chrissy Chen Institute announced that $80 million would fund The Tianqiao and Chrissy Chen Institute for Brain Disease. The nonprofit brain disease institute was formed as a partnership with Huashan Hospital in Shanghai, which in turn is affiliated with Fudan University, and Zhou Liangfu Foundation.The institute announced a focus on international collaboration and brain disease research, - Chen Institute - November 2, 2017 with plans to study "brain tumors, Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, depression and other brain ailments." In June 2018, the institute announced that it was partnering with the Shanghai Mental Health Center to fund the study of mental illness. - Chen Institute - June 6, 2018
Areas of focus and mission
The Tianqiao and Chrissy Chen InstituteKerry Dolan, is interested in three core areas: brain discovery, brain treatment, and brain development. In particular, the institute aims to support fundamental brain research with a focus on "understanding the sensation-perception mechanisms and related systems of memory, attention, learning and expectations." The institute's stated goal is to fund universities and institutions in forms such as endowed institutes, - Pasadena Now - August 7, 2017 grants for researchers, professorships, or "topic-specific programs" for scientists. Co-founder Tianqiao Chen has explained that "the key of philanthropy vision" is furthering understanding of perception, arguing that such research would help people master negative emotions. According to Chen, “for thousands of years, we improved our happiness through changing the physical world. We now have to solve this problem by exploring inward.
Programs and institutions
The Tianqiao and Chrissy Chen Institute for Neuroscience at Caltech
The T&C Chen Brain-Machine Interface Center
The T&C Chen Center for Social and Decision Neuroscience
The Tianqiao and Chrissy Chen Institute for Brain Disease
Research and recognition
Since its inception, researchers at the Tianqiao and Chrissy Chen Institute at Caltech have published work on topics such as aiding paralyzed patients feel sensation, - Caltech - April 10, 2018 the neural processes associated with fear, - Caltech - March 5, 2018 deciphering how the brain manages thirst, - Macmillan Publishers Limited - 2018 the mechanisms behind memory recollection, - Pasadena Now - Lori Dajose - December 19, 2017 the neural codes for body movements, and others. - Caltech - July 20, 2017 A number of Tianqiao and Chrissy Chen Institute researchers have received awards for their work. Institute researchers at Huashan Hospital, for example, received two National Science and Technology Awards in 2017 for their work on “Basic and Clinical Innovation Methods for Cerebral Fluid Through Surgery.” - Chen Institute - January 9, 2018
Documentary
The institute commissioned the documentary Minds Wide Open, which aired on the Discovery Channel in 2018. An hour long, according to Barron's it "builds a case for why scientists need to focus on very basic questions of how the brain works and gives special attention to several young scientists who are on the verge of breakthroughs." The film won Gold Awards in the 2018 Cannes Corporate Media & TV Award film categories of medical, educational, and science and technology. - Chen Institute - 2018
