In Memory of T. Denny Sanford
Sanford Labs joins the broader Sanford community in mourning the passing of T. Denny Sanford.
Sanford Laboratories for Innovative Medicines (Sanford Labs) joins the broader Sanford community in mourning the passing of T. Denny Sanford, whose extraordinary generosity has shaped biomedical research and healthcare delivery across the country and around the world.
Mr. Sanford’s vision — that strategic philanthropy could fundamentally accelerate the path from scientific discovery to patient benefit — is at the heart of what we do. Sanford Labs was founded on exactly that conviction, and it guides our work every day.
His impact on San Diego’s research community was profound and lasting. Through his support of Sanford Labs, Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute, the Sanford Consortium for Regenerative Medicine, and the Sanford Stem Cell Institute and T. Denny Sanford Institute for Empathy and Compassion at UC San Diego, he helped build the collaborative infrastructure that makes this region one of the world’s leading centers for biomedical innovation. Across the country, his giving to Sanford Health — which bears his name and began with a gift to a regional hospital in Sioux Falls, South Dakota in 2004 — grew into one of the most consequential philanthropic commitments to a single health system in American history. We are proud to be part of this community — and to carry his name and his mission forward.
“Denny Sanford understood that scientific breakthroughs don’t reach patients by chance. With the right investment, the right people, and the courage to think boldly, the path from discovery to patient impact can be dramatically shortened. That belief made Sanford Labs possible and continues to motivate everything we do.”
— Kristiina Vuori, MD, PhD, President and CEO