Updated Information Revealed About UCLA's New Research Park at Former Westside Pavilion

Late last year, news emerged that UCLA planned to purchase the former Westside Pavilion shopping mall and convert it into a center for biomedical research. Recently, a philanthropist supporting the project has provided more details about what's on the horizon.

Dr. Gary Michelson, a surgeon and inventor, along with his wife Alya Michelson, announced a $120 million donation to help establish the California Institute for Immunology and Immunotherapy. This institute, a public-private partnership focused on researching cures and treatments for various diseases, will be the primary tenant in the new UCLA research park, occupying 360,000 square feet of the 700,000-square-foot complex.

“Immunology is the mediator of nearly all human diseases, whether we’re talking about cancer or heart disease or Alzheimer’s,” said Michelson in a statement. “The vision for this institute is to become a ‘field of dreams’ — the world’s leading center for the study of the immune system to develop advanced immunotherapies to prevent, treat and cure all of the diseases that afflict people today and to end these diseases in our lifetime.”

The $120 million from Michelson Philanthropies and the Michelson Medical Research Foundation includes $100 million, which will be evenly split between two entities within the institute. One will concentrate on vaccine development, and the other on microbiome research in collaboration with the UCLA Goodman-Luskin Microbiome Center. The remaining $20 million will be used to create an endowment for research grants, supporting young scientists exploring new methods in immunotherapy, immunology, and vaccines.

According to the Los Angeles Times, Michelson expects up to 5,000 people, including 500 research scientists, to be employed by the institute. While the development of UCLA's research park is projected to take three years, the Times reports that much of the immunology institute could be operational in half that time.

The purchase of the Westside Pavilion marks UCLA's largest acquisition in the past two years, following their purchase of the historic Trust Building in Downtown Los Angeles and the former Marymount California University campus in Rancho Palos Verdes for use as satellite campuses.

The former Westside Pavilion, initially intended to become a Google office campus, also features a 12-screen theater, which could be repurposed into lecture halls or performance spaces for UCLA's arts, humanities, and social sciences disciplines.

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