Exeter receives largest ever donation of £10 million to the medical school

The Dennis and Mireille Gillings Foundation has given the University of Exeter its largest ever single gift of £10 million, in order to fund a new Mireille Gillings Neuroimaging Centre at the University of Exeter Medical School that will focus on dementia research and diagnosis.

The foundation was set up by Exeter alumnus Dr. Dennis Gillings, who received both a Bachelor’s degree (1966) and PhD (1972) in Mathematics from Exeter, as well as an Honorary Degree in 2011, and has since been the founder of clinical research company Quintiles.

Dr. Dennis Gillings' wife, Dr. Mirielle Gililngs is the founder and Chief Executive Officer of HUYA Bioscience International, which specialises in accelerating development of biopharma innovation in China. Dr Mireille Gillings firmly believes that this new state of the art technology will play a "pivotal role" in the treatment of Alzheimer's and other neurological diseases.

The centre will be located at the RD&E site, one of the medical school's five locations

The new building, which will be located at the Royal Devon and Exeter NHS Foundation Trust (RD&E) Site, will aid the process of clinical trials for prospective dementia treatments over the course of the next five years, with the vision of doubling the number of dementia drugs in development.

The centre aims to use new brain-scanning technology and techniques to diagnose Alzheimer's and evaluate the impacts of its potential therapies. additionally, the gift received will also be used to improve cancer diagnosis by GPs and support the next generation of medical leaders.