The University of Southern California has announced a $10 million gift from alumnus and trustee Daniel Epstein and his wife, Phyllis, in support of sports medicine research and treatment at its Keck School of Medicine.

Administered by the Epstein Family Foundation, the gift will help the newly named USC Epstein Family Center for Sports Medicine bolster its research, education, and treatment initiatives. Among other things, specialists at the center will collaborate with USC Athletics to study and develop innovative injury prevention strategies designed to keep USC Trojan student–athletes healthy and on the field, predict their risk of injury and re-injury, and return them to their sport at the most appropriate time following injury.

The gift also will establish a unit dedicated to collecting and analyzing data and the management of clinical trials with the aim of improving patient outcomes, including quality of life following surgery or treatment. In addition, new seed funding will enable scientists to test promising research ideas with the goal of attracting larger grants from federal and private sources.

Daniel Epstein earned his bachelor's degree in engineering from USC Viterbi in 1962 and serves on the school's board of councilors. He is, in addition, a member of the executive committee of the USC Lusk Center for Real Estate and chair of the advisory committee of the Epstein Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering. Phyllis Epstein is a board member of the USC Roski School of Art and Design and the USC Shoah Foundation — The Institute for Visual History and Education. The Epsteins have made numerous gifts to the university, including a naming gift for the Daniel J. Epstein Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering at the USC Viterbi School of Engineering and the lead gift to fund the Epstein Family Alumni Center. Daniel Epstein has served on the USC board of trustees since 2002.

"Dan and Phyllis Epstein have been stalwart supporters of the university for decades, and their latest gift will ensure our highly skilled sports medicine doctors and scientists can achieve important breakthroughs in their research, improve treatment for athletes, and provide preventive therapy and compassionate care for their patients," said Albert R. Checcio, USC senior vice president for university advancement.