$1 million Hellman gift to Gladstone hopes to cast wide net on neurodegenerative diseases

The J. David Gladstone Institutes and the Hellman Family Foundation hope to build a $1 million bridge over the valley of death.
Financier Warren Hellman’s foundation’s $1 million gift to the San Francisco biomedical research institution is aimed at Alzheimer’s disease research, identifying targets for small-molecule drugs and transferring those drugs more quickly to companies.
But Alzheimer’s research also could apply to Huntington’s disease, Parkinson’s or other neurodegenerative problems, potentially accelerating drugs moving to patients, said Dr. Steven Finkbeiner, the Gladstone senior investigator who will lead the Hellman Family Foundation Alzheimer’s Research Program at Gladstone.