George Washington University has announced gifts totaling $80 million from the Milken Institute and the Milken Family and Sumner M. Redstone Charitable foundations to help address global public health challenges, with a focus on disease prevention and wellness promotion.

The gifts include $40 million over five years from the Milken Institute to fund new and ongoing research and scholarships; $30 million over five years from the Redstone Charitable Foundation to advance innovative strategies for promoting wellness and preventing disease; and $10 million over two years from the Milken Family Foundation in support of the dean's office and a newly created scholarship program at the School of Public Health and Health Services. In recognition of the gifts, the Sumner M. Redstone Global Center for Prevention and Wellness will be established within the school, which will be renamed the Milken Institute School of Public Health.

Despite rapid advances in treatment and cures, the benefits for public health have been muted, as progress on many fronts has been offset by poor nutrition, environmental factors, lifestyle decisions, and insufficient focus on prevention and wellness. Starting with obesity, the Redstone Center will work with other institutions and schools of public health to develop solutions to complex public health challenges.

"GW has long been a world-class center for public health research, scholarship, and action," said Redstone, the executive chair of both Viacom and the CBS Corporation. "I am proud to join the Milken Institute and Milken Family Foundation in supporting this great institution's efforts to help fight some of the biggest health issues of our time and give millions access to healthier and longer lives."

"Washington, D.C., is the center of global public health policy, and GW boasts the leading academic public health institution in Washington," said Paul Irving, president of the Milken Institute and a member of the School of Public Health's Dean's Council. "We are delighted to support the talented public health scholars and students of GW and look forward to helping the university extend its reach and impact even further."