Philanthropist Samuel Yin, a Taiwanese billionaire, has gifted The Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla with $12.8M toward construction of a new state-of-the-art research complex. This is Yin’s third gift to this elite biomedical institute over the last two years, bringing his total contributions to $18M.

Yin is a major business tycoon in Taiwan, who serves as chairman of the Ruentex Group, which focuses on the retail, real estate and financial services sectors, reports the San Diego Union Tribune. His gift will be combined with $12.5M from an anonymous donor to build the new facility. This complex will save the biomedical institute money by consolidating research lab space under one roof. This will encourage collaboration among scientists and strengthen ongoing programs at the intersection of biology and chemistry.

In recent years Scripps Research has struggled to obtain research dollars from public and private sources. The Institute also has suffered from management problems, some of which stemmed from USC’s attempt to merge with or gain control over Scripps Research. New leadership is now aligning the Institute with the California Institute for Biomedical Research, or Calibr, a nonprofit research firm headed by Scripps’ new chief executive, Peter Schultz.

Calibr accelerates the translation of basic research discoveries to new medicines that address unmet needs. Yin’s gift came in part as a result of this relationship, says Steve Kay, the Institute's new president. [SDUT]