The Keck Graduate Institute of Applied Life Sciences (KGI) in Claremont, California, has announced a seven-year, $20 million grant from the Los Angeles-based W. M. Keck Foundation in support of its endowment and to augment its general operating fund. The institute also announced that it has committed to raising $30 million in matching funds.

More than $13 million of the grant will be applied toward KGI's endowment, which supports curricular and research initiatives in the biosciences, including fellowship assistance to students. The KGI research program has already had several notable successes, including the development of a hand-held device that can test for low levels of SARS, meningitis, and influenza pathogens in under ten minutes. Presently fifty-two students are enrolled in the two-year master of bioscience program. With the grant from the foundation, annual enrollment in the program is expected to more than double.

"This new grant reflects the foundation's belief in KGI's mission and our confidence in its leadership," said foundation chairman and president Robert A. Day. "KGI has achieved great things in a short period of time. We hope this grant will help it now secure its place as a unique and vital institution at the forefront of training leaders for the global life sciences industry."