NEW HAVEN, Conn. (AP) — A Turkish financier whose close friend and business associate is being treated for brain cancer has donated $12 million to help Yale University’s brain tumor research efforts.
Mehmet Kutman is giving the gift over several years in honor of a fellow board member at Istanbul-based Global Investment Holdings, where Kutman is chairman and chief executive officer.
Officials say the donation will launch the Yale Program in Brain Cancer Research. It will conduct detailed genomic research into the treatment of the most common and aggressive form of brain cancer.
About 400 samples of brain tumors from Turkish hospitals will be delivered to Yale’s School of Medicine to jump start the effort, adding to many other pathological specimens that Yale already has on hand.