Gene Therapy Initiative, University of California San Diego

The Gene Therapy Initiative (GTI) at UC San Diego was launched in 2023 with a visionary $5 million gift from the Nancy and Geoffrey Stack Foundation. This catalytic investment is advancing the development of life-changing gene-based therapies and providing researchers with the seed funding and entrepreneurial resources needed to bring discoveries from the lab to patients. By uniting academia, biotech, and patient communities, GTI fosters powerful collaborations that accelerate medical breakthroughs—offering hope to individuals and families affected by genetic diseases.
There is a world-wide effort to make gene therapies more accessible to patients and expand applications to more common diseases. However, much of the ingenuity needed to realize these goals never leaves the confines of academic labs. This can be attributed to obscure paths to translating discoveries to marketable therapies, lack of training in commercialization concepts, and missed opportunities to partner with industry.