UBC receives $9.1M donation for Alzheimer’s research

Thanks to a donation by a diamond magnate, the University of British Columbia has received an infusion of cash to help fund Alzheimer’s disease research.

Charles Fipke, who helped develop Canada’s first diamond mine, is providing $3,000,000 to support a UBC professorship dedicated to Alzheimer’s research. He has also pledged $600,000 to outfit a lab with cutting-edge equipment and committed $5.5 million to help buy the latest in brain-imaging technology.

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A Kelowna resident, Fipke said he was making the donation because his longtime friend and former premier, Bill Bennett, suffers from Alzheimer’s disease.

“I want to do anything I can to help UBC’s researchers find a cure.”

According to UBC president Dr. Arvind Gupta, the donation by Fipke will put the university at the global foreground of Alzheimer’s research.

This is not the first donation for Fipke, who is a UBC alumnus. He has previously given $8.7 million to the university, which went mostly towards buildings and equipment at UBC’s Okanagan campus.