Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center renamed for Asad Jamal, Iqbal Farrukh

The Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center at the Stanford University School of Medicine has been renamed for Asad Jamal and Iqbal Farrukh in recognition of a charitable donation made to the university by the Good Planet Foundation. 

Jamal, the founder and chairman of ePlanet Capital, established the foundation to promote innovative approaches to relieving world poverty through education initiatives in developing countries, as well as to advance scientific research to achieve health care breakthroughs. Farrukh is Jamal’s mother.

The foundation also has made a gift to establish an endowed professorship — the Iqbal Farrukh and Asad Jamal Professorship — in the Department of Neurology and Neurological Sciences. 

The Iqbal Farrukh and Asad Jamal Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center is part of a network of research centers at major universities nationwide designated as centers of excellence by the National Institutes of Health. The centers are congressionally mandated to work together in translating research advances into improved diagnosis, treatment and care for people with Alzheimer’s disease and related disorders. The center also provides educational opportunities for community members, caregivers, students and health care professionals.

“This philanthropy will help galvanize our center’s efforts to develop and test much-needed novel drug therapies for Alzheimer’s and related disorders,” said Frank Longo, MD, PhD, the George E. and Lucy Becker Professor and chair of neurology and neurological sciences at the School of Medicine. “We are grateful for Good Planet’s vision and the impact their generosity will have on our ability to expand critical research infrastructure across the many top-tier programs on the Stanford campus, foster collaboration, train researchers and physician scientists, provide community education, and help reach our ultimate goal of preventing and curing Alzheimer’s disease.” 

The inaugural holder of the Iqbal Farrukh and Asad Jamal Professorship in the Department of Neurology and Neurological Sciences is Michael Greicius, MD, MPH. Greicius is a professor of neurology and neurological sciences in the School of Medicine and division chief of the Stanford Center for Memory Disorders.

“This gift will allow us to accelerate the pace of discovery in dementia research in ways that are not possible with traditional funding,” said Greicius. “I am honored by the opportunity to serve as the first holder of this newly established professorship dedicated to supporting research and care in Alzheimer’s disease and related neurodegenerative disorders.”

Greicius is a co-director of the Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center imaging core and serves as the principal investigator for a lab focused on researching the genetics of neurodegeneration and identifying variants that increase or decrease the risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease.

The clinical and research focus of the Iqbal Farrukh and Asad Jamal Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center includes Alzheimer’s disease and Lewy body disorders, the two most common causes of neurodegeneration. The center’s activities draw heavily on the university’s unique strengths in imaging, neuro-immunity, synapse biology, biostatistics and bioinformatics, clinical assessment and research, epidemiology, and caregiver outreach with a particular focus on the Latino and Asian communities in the Bay Area.

Good Planet Foundation released the following statement: “We are delighted to support the efforts of the Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center and Stanford Medicine’s world-class neurology team, who are dedicated to developing solutions to address one of the leading public health crises in the United States and the world.”