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Tom and Cathy Ryan donate $15 million to URI
to establish neuroscience research institute
Institute to address diseases, disorders affecting one in three Americans
KINGSTON, R.I. – November 14, 2013 – With the largest private donation in its history,
the University of Rhode Island will establish a neuroscience research institute named for the
parents of Thomas M. Ryan, a 1975 graduate of the University and former chairman, president
and CEO of CVS Caremark. Tom and his wife Cathy have donated $15 million to establish the
George & Anne Ryan Institute for Neuroscience at the University of Rhode Island.
“The Ryan Institute will elevate the visibility of the groundbreaking research taking place
here in Rhode Island and position URI as a leader in neuroscience research and the treatment of
neurodegenerative and neurological diseases, “ said URI President David M. Dooley. “We are
tremendously grateful to Tom and Cathy Ryan and the Ryan family for their foresight and
continued generosity. They have created an enduring legacy and made a truly transformational
gift.”
“When I retired from CVS two years ago,” says Ryan, “we had conversations about what
the family foundation would focus on and we decided to focus on education and health care. I
had some discussions with President Dooley because, although I had given back to the
University, I wanted to give to something that was more transformational, more lasting, really a
future gift.”
The Ryan Institute will focus its research, teaching, and outreach on neurodegenerative
diseases and disorders, like Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and ALS. It will draw on the expertise of
more than 30 scientists from across the University who have been studying brain disorders and
diseases from multiple perspectives and disciplines. The faculty – from pharmacy, engineering,
psychology, chemistry, communicative disorders and more -- participate in the University’s
Interdisciplinary Neuroscience Program, established in 2011 to conduct innovative
neuroscience research and offer master’s and doctoral degrees.
The Ryan Institute will be a magnet to attract people and engage them in solving some
of the most pressing health care challenges we face in society – neurodegenerative diseases.
This gift enables the University to attract leading researchers and to train new generations of
scientists to work on these problems. The Institute will collaborate with other state, regional
and national entities to develop and deliver treatments for central nervous system disorders.
The University possesses unique research strengths in pharmacology/drug discovery,
neuroengineering, and neuropsychology. To maximize statewide efforts in neuroscience, the
Ryan Institute will stimulate cooperation among other institutions in Rhode Island, including the
well-established neuroscience program at Brown University, the basic research programs of the
Brown Institute for Brain Science, the newly formed Norman Prince Neurosciences Institute at
Rhode Island Hospital that focuses on clinical neuroscience, and the U.S. Department of
Veterans Affairs.
With more than 600 types of neurological disorders, the World Health Organization
estimates that one in three Americans will suffer from a neurological disorder in their lifetime.
Alzheimer’s disease alone cost the United States as much as $200 billion per year in direct and
indirect health care expenses.
“When you look at what’s happening around the world with ALS, autism, epilepsy,
Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s, it’s truly an epidemic,” said Ryan. “As the population ages, not
only in the U.S., but globally, it’s going to get worse.
“On a personal level, my dad retired at a young age, was extremely healthy, rock-solid,
kind of bigger than life guy -- and he had a stroke and then subsequent Alzheimer’s. I saw what
it did to him, what it did to my mother, and our family. The economic costs are one thing, but
the personal, emotional costs are another. It steals memories. It saddles caregivers. I saw my
mom’s health go down. I had colleagues at CVS pass away from ALS. So it hit close to home for
us and —once we did the due diligence and saw what was going on at URI -- it was a natural
fit.“
“In addition to helping ease the suffering of millions of people around the globe, the
George and Anne Ryan Institute for Neuroscience will contribute significantly to economic
development in Rhode Island by creating a vibrant environment for the expansion of basic
biomedical research and clinical practice in neuroscience,” Governor Lincoln D. Chafee said.
Seeking new treatments and therapies for disorders of the nervous system are among
the top priorities of federal funding agencies.
“Neuroscience is one of the last scientific frontiers where fundamental discoveries can
still be made,” said Professor of Pharmacy Nasser Zawia, a professor of pharmacology and
toxicology, director of the University’s Interdisciplinary Neuroscience Program and dean of the
Graduate School. “This investment could not have come at a more opportune time. Over the
last decade or so there have been major advances in our understanding of the brain that have
allowed for innovative therapeutic solutions and treatments not possible with our previous
limited knowledge.”
This year, a national strategy to address these disorders was under discussion in
Congress, the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy named its first coordinator
of neuroscience research, the Obama administration unveiled a $100 million brain mapping
initiative, and the Society for Neuroscience described the coming years as “a period of
breakthrough discovery in brain science,” in which the field is “poised to make revolutionary
advances.”
“A gift of this magnitude is truly historic for URI both in size and potential impact,” said
Michael Smith, president of the URI Foundation. “This level of investment is truly
transformational in nature in that it has the ability to make a significant impact, and to elevate
and distinguish the important work being done in this area. This gift also makes an important
statement about the Ryans’ faith in URI and its leadership, and about the affinity our alumni
have for their alma mater. We are truly grateful.”
Ryan noted that, “If we do it right and we work together and we increase research
dollars, get more faculty, more money in the state, find some cures, some breakthroughs, the
economic development will follow. But, we’re not doing this for economic development, we’re
doing this to try to solve a major problem in this country. And if we do that and do it better
than anybody else, we will become the center of excellence, and I think that’s the ultimate goal.
“It’s just the right thing to do, and we think it’s going to make a difference; not only for
URI, but for the state, and ultimately —for society.”
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