Three decades of giving: Announcing the Calibr-Skaggs Institute for Innovative Medicines
The ALSAM Foundation, founded by the Skaggs family, provides lasting gift to Scripps Research’s drug discovery and development arm.
January 08, 2024
LA JOLLA, CA — The ALSAM Foundation, founded by L.S. “Sam” and Aline W. Skaggs, has made a significant donation to Calibr, the drug discovery division of Scripps Research, to support its mission of accelerating the development of innovative medicines with a direct impact on patients’ needs. In honor of the foundation’s gift and the Skaggs family’s long legacy of support for Scripps Research’s scientific mission, Calibr will now be known as the Calibr-Skaggs Institute for Innovative Medicines.
“Decades of philanthropy from the Skaggs family are inextricably interwoven into the past, present and future of our work at Scripps Research,” says Peter Schultz, President and CEO of Scripps Research and the Calibr-Skaggs Institute. “Beginning with influential gifts from Sam and Aline in the ’80s and ’90s and extending through subsequent generations of Skaggs family members, time and time again they have enabled us to recruit top scientists, educate the next generation of scientific leaders, and now translate our scientific discoveries into life-saving treatments.”
Scientists at the Calibr-Skaggs Institute are tackling a spectrum of unmet medical needs, spanning oncology, regenerative medicine, neurodegenerative diseases, metabolic health and infectious disease. They have advanced nine programs into clinical development and have an additional five in IND-enabling studies. Now, with the Skaggs family’s recent gift, they will have the resources to move high risk, potentially transformative programs into clinical development to demonstrate human proof of efficacy.
“Scripps Research has been a trusted partner for more than three decades, showcasing how unbridled scientific discovery and curiosity can transform our understanding of human health and ultimately how we treat disease,” says Claudia Skaggs Luttrell, President of The Skaggs Institute for Chemical Biology. “Together, we are creating a future where landmark science can impact people around the world.”
Over the last thirty years, the Skaggs family has made immeasurable contributions to Scripps Research, helping shape it into the leading institution it is today. Sam Skaggs initially built his career in the drugstore industry, and he knew firsthand the lasting ways innovative drugs could change people’s lives. Sam and Aline set out to better humankind through empowering the brilliant minds who could advance science and develop new medicines.
In 1996, Sam and Aline Skaggs made an initial donation to fund the institute’s chemical biology program, which is now known as The Skaggs Institute for Chemical Biology. This enabled Scripps Research to recruit preeminent scientific talent and seed Scripps Research’s future as an engine for drug discovery. Later, in 2017, the Skaggs family endowed graduate student fellowships in the top-ranked Skaggs Graduate School of Chemical and Biological Sciences. This gift ensured the brightest scientists can pursue their research across diverse scientific fields—in perpetuity. This most recent gift represents the next step in fully realizing Sam and Aline Skaggs’ vision for translating science into medicines.
“This funding will be instrumental in supporting the Calibr-Skaggs Institute’s preclinical and clinical studies—ultimately catalyzing investment, accelerating new treatment options and continually fueling our drug discovery and development engine,” adds Schultz. “Through this lasting partnership, the Skaggs family’s impact can be felt on every corner of the Scripps Research campus.”
For more information, contact press@scripps.edu