Infectious Diseases

Garry Shandling's Legacy Gift and Funding Opportunities

Garry Shandling’s Legacy Gift

Garry Shandling was a well-known comedian, writer and performer. He was also a dedicated mentor for younger people in the entertainment profession. Through an initial connection made through UCLA Health, Dr. Yang formed a close friendship with Garry. They frequently talked about the challenges of funding medical research, mentoring students, and concerns about the future of innovative treatments and patient care. Tragically, Garry died unexpectedly in March 2016. Unbeknownst to Dr. Yang, Garry provided a generous bequest to UCLA including a $1M donation to support Dr. Yang’s work.  This gift was the seed that has grown into the Yang Immune Innovation Fund.

Funding Opportunities

UCLA offers donors many opportunities to make fully tax-deductible gifts to the Yang Immune Innovation Fund at different levels of philanthropy:

Examples of targeted funding opportunities include:

  • Fellowship for PhD or post-doctoral trainee
  • Endowed faculty chair position
  • Endowed laboratory
  • Endowed research program
  • Center for research on a disease topic

Please consider becoming part of Dr. Yang’s team by making a meaningful contribution.  Every gift is appreciated and contributes to the advancement of medical science.

Inquiries about the work of the Yang Immune Innovation Fund may be directed to Dr. Yang at: (310) 791-9491 or [email protected].

Inquiries about donating to the Immune Innovation Fund may be directed to Gretchen McGarry, Executive Director, UCLA Heath Science Development at (310) 794-4746 or [email protected].

Your tax-deductible donation may also be made via this link: http://giving.ucla.edu/immune-innovation.

Thank you for your support of the Yang Immune Innovation Fund