The University of California San Diego has announced a $150 million commitment from Giving Pledger T. Denny Sanford to bolster the school’s stem cell research and regenerative medicine programs and fund related projects to be conducted aboard the International Space Station (ISS).

The largest single gift to the university will be used to establish the UC San Diego Sanford Stem Cell Institute and build on the $100 million gift Sanford made in 2013, which created the Sanford Stem Cell Clinical Center at UC San Diego Health. The center and other current programs related to stem cell research at the university will be brought into the new institute.

New programs will focus on space-related stem cell research—considered a new frontier in developing better treatments for various cancers and diseases on Earth, including blood cancers, as well as neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s—and include projects aboard the ISS, a stem cell-focused space fitness and orbital medicine program to benefit both astronauts and people on Earth, and a business accelerator program to commercialize medical discoveries and engage in contract research in low-Earth orbit. In addition, the gift will establish an endowed chair in regenerative medicine, an endowed faculty scholars and fellows fund, and an Exploration Discovery Fund.

“This [gift] will allow us to keep pace with the growing need for regenerative and stem cell based therapies and accelerate translational stem cell research and discoveries that will transform human health for years to come,” said institute director Catriona Jamieson.

“This investment enables the team to dream beyond what is possible,” said Sanford. “The sky is no longer the limit.”

(Photo credit: University of California San Diego)