UF's neurosurgery department plans to use $20 million to research the causes of brain tumors.
A $10 million gift from the Wells Foundation, matched by another $10 million from UF, will bring a team of scientists to the university, said Dr. William Friedman, chairman of UF's Department of Neurosurgery.
About 20,000 tumors originated in the brain are diagnosed in the U.S. each year. Half of those are gliomas, which are much more difficult to treat and cure, he said.
The scientists will research what causes brain tumors and how they form. Friedman said he hopes that will help doctors determine a cure.
He said UF's neurosurgery department is in the country's top 10 in patient volume, and it's not a shortage of doctors that's the problem.
"We need scientists," he said.
Friedman said the team of scientists will mostly focus on glioma brain tumors. He described current treatment as "dismal."
The Wells Foundation gave $5 million in 2006 to establish the Preston A. Wells Jr. Center for Brain Tumor Therapy, according to a UF news release. This donation will create the Lillian S. Wells Fund for Brain Tumor Research.
