Marquette will receive a $1.5 million gift to fund research in the College of Health Sciences

Marquette University announced Tuesday a $1.5 million gift from the Eck Family Foundation to fund projects within the university’s College of Health Sciences, as well as an upcoming expansion of the Athletic and Human Performance Research Center (AHPRC). The portion of the gift earmarked for the College of Health Sciences will focus on highly innovative projects aimed at applying new technologies, new therapies and research to address substance use disorders, according to a news release, while the portion will go to the athletics center . will support the development of a new men’s basketball practice facility, which will be created as part of the building expansion. The first phase of the AHPRC opened in 2019. As the university community continues to build momentum in its Time to Rise campaign, donors have expressed philanthropic interest in supporting the second phase of the project, university officials said. The facility is still in the fundraising and development phase. A portion of the Ecks’ gift will go toward developing a network of collaborating scientists within the College of Health Sciences’ Integrative Neuroscience Research Center, including neuroscientists, physicians and pharmaceutical experts focusing on cognitive, emotional and motivational areas of the brain to grasp and understand it. addressing depression, neuropsychiatric disorders, addiction, spinal cord research and body weight regulation. “Like so many families, ours have felt the impact of addiction and the difficulty of finding effective treatment,” he says Bob and Kim Eck of the Eck Family Foundation. “Finding funding for early-stage research can be challenging. Our hope is that our gift will lead to progress in developing new treatments that can free so many people from suffering.” The College of Health Sciences has spent more than a decade developing world-class scientists in the critical areas of neuroscience, noted the college’s dean, Dr. William E. Cullinan, op. “We sincerely appreciate this gift from the Eck family, which will accelerate our research efforts,” said Cullinan. “Ultimately, our vision is to take the discoveries back to our labs and translate them into breakthroughs for families looking for solutions.”

Return

The Ecks are both Marquette alumni. Bob, who served as chair of Marquette’s Board of Trustees from 2020 to 2023, graduated in 1980. Kim completed her studies in 2013 and is director of the Eck Family Foundation. “We are grateful for this remarkable, mission-focused gift from the Eck family. Their generosity will have a major impact on a pressing social issue,” said Marquette President Michael Lovell. “This gift will further our progress as a research university known for excellence and innovation – a key theme in our new strategic plan – and take our Athletic and Human Performance Research Center to the next level.” The Eck family has contributed to progress in wellness on campus in recent years. In September 2022, Bob Eck announced the university’s plans to honor Michael and Amy Lovell in the university’s planned wellness tower in the newly renovated Wellness + Helfaer Recreation facility. Within four months, the university raised $5 million in honor of the Lovells, the news release said.

Using seed money

Philanthropic seed funding like the Ecks’ often helps researchers advance scientific progress in ways they can then leverage for larger grants from the National Institutes of Health or other funding sources, the release said. In February, Lovell announced that the university had surpassed the $750 million fundraising goal set by the Marquette community as part of its Time to Rise campaign. He challenged the Marquette community to strive for completion of the campaign by June 2024. “We are very fortunate to have had two philanthropic leaders, Bob and Kim, during our historic Time to Rise campaign,” said Vice President for university promotion Tim McMahon. “This latest gift reflects their values ​​and beliefs, both in the way we pursue scientific discoveries to treat addiction and in the way we work to improve the home for our flagship men’s basketball program.” As the university continues to raise money for a variety of construction projects on campus, it is also working on ways to reduce the institution’s overall budget by $31 million over the next six years. It plans to reinvest 40%, or $12.4 million, of those funds in other financing priorities.