SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, Calif., Aug. 17 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- The Genentech Foundation for Biomedical Sciences announced today that its Board of Directors has awarded 25 grants in 2006 totaling $1,220,930 for health science education programs with educational and community-based organizations in the San Francisco Bay Area. The 2006 grantees share the Foundation's commitment to supporting innovation and challenging youth in the growing field of biotechnology.
"I am pleased that the Genentech Foundation for Biomedical Sciences stands firm in its ability to extend grants to organizations it has funded in the past and support new requests for funding from innovative programs educating local youth in the sciences," said Herbert Boyer, Ph.D., chairman of the Foundation and Genentech co-founder. "These important programs that the Foundation supports will allow talented students to engage in hands-on learning experiences, and to access mentors and educational resources that would otherwise not be available. We are proud that we can play a part in supporting tomorrow's health science leaders."
The Northern California Chapter of the Achievement Rewards for College Scientists (ARCS) Foundation, awarded a grant of $20,000 from the Foundation, is one example of supporting tomorrow's science leaders. In response to the Soviet launch of Sputnik, ARCS was founded in 1958 by a group of women who wanted to see the United States reestablish its scientific and technological leadership. These women started the first ARCS chapter in Los Angeles and since then, the organization has become a national network of 13 chapters, and now is the largest private membership organization in the U.S. focused on supporting promising science scholars. ARCS continues to achieve its original mission of fostering scientific excellence through scholarship rewards. To date, the Northern California chapter of ARCS has awarded more than $11 million to students pursuing degrees in science, math, engineering, and medicine. As a membership organization, membership dues cover all administrative costs of the scholars program, so 100% of grant dollars received go directly to students. The impact of the ARCS program in the lives of students is best described in their own words.
"I believe that the ARCS Foundation is doing a tremendous service to our society by investing in the next generation of scientists and engineers, and I applaud their strategy of direct investment, straight to the students," said Adam Siepel, ARCS Foundation scholarship recipient and student at the University of California, Santa Cruz. "As a husband and new father, struggling to make ends meet on a graduate student's income, I can personally attest to the importance of financial support for beginning scientists."
Founded in 1988, Genentech funds the Genentech Foundation for Biomedical Sciences by providing payments and royalties from license agreements under the Riggs-Itakura family of patents.
The Genentech Foundation for Biomedical Sciences has committed grants to the following organizations in 2006:
Alameda County
-- Berkeley Biotechnology Education, Inc.
-- Chabot Space and Science Center
-- Children's Hospital and Research Center Foundation, FACES for the
Future Program
-- East Bay Biotechnology Education Partnership
-- Level Playing Field Institute, SMASH Program
-- Mills College, Mid-Career Math and Science Teacher Preparation Program
Marin County
-- Bay Area Discovery Museum
-- Marin County Office of Education, Program in Biotechnology Education
San Francisco County
-- Achievement Rewards for College Scientists Foundation, Inc.
-- Exploratorium
-- Gateway High School
-- KIPP Bay Area Collaborative
-- San Francisco Unified School District, Abraham Lincoln High School
-- University of California, San Francisco, Diversity Encore Program and
Medical Student Research Program
San Mateo County
-- Coyote Point Museum
-- San Mateo County Office of Education, Gene Connection
-- Skyline College, Expanding Your Horizons Conference
Santa Clara County
-- A Schmahl Science Workshop
-- Andrew P. Hill High School, Biotechnology Academy
-- Children's Discovery Museum of San Jose
-- Industry Initiatives for Science and Math Education
-- Santa Clara County Biotechnology Education Partnership
-- Stanford University School of Medicine, Medical Student Scholars
Program
Yolo County
-- University of California, Davis, Partnership for Plant Genomics
Education
About the Genentech Foundation for Biomedical Sciences
The Genentech Foundation for Biomedical Sciences is an independent, nonprofit organization that supports biomedical education and research in the San Francisco Bay Area. The Foundation supports educational programs at junior high and high schools, colleges and universities, museums, and community organizations that foster science education for local students, including under-represented minorities and underprivileged groups.
