Teams of scientists, engineers, and clinicians from across Stanford’s campus will soon be able to join forces, share expertise and access laboratories with state-of-the-art equipment, thanks to an expansive new research complex opening this month.

Dedicated to the life sciences and human health, the facility brings together two interdisciplinary institutes – the Wu Tsai Neurosciences Institute and Stanford ChEM-H (Chemistry, Engineering and Medicine for Human Health) – in two interconnecting buildings. The four-story complex provides 235,000 square feet for work, study and social activity, including a suite of community labs.

“The opening of this complex heralds a new era of scientific collaboration and discovery on campus,” President Marc Tessier-Lavigne said. “The Stanford ChEM-H Building and the Stanford Neurosciences Building will be accessible to the whole university community, allowing experts from different disciplines to work together in advancing human health. We are deeply thankful for the extraordinary generosity of those who are making this visionary complex and these transformative opportunities possible.”

Philanthropic support played a key role in the $256 million complex, with longtime university donors William and Sophy Ding making a foundational gift for the Stanford ChEM-H Building and anonymous donors supporting the Stanford Neurosciences Building. Additional funding was provided by the schools of Humanities and Sciences, Engineering and Medicine, as well as university sources.

William Ding, whose Chinese name is Ding Lei, is the founder and CEO of NetEase, a Chinese internet technology firm. He and his wife Sophy, or Wang Xunfang, also support disaster relief and educational equity in China and elsewhere in Asia. In addition to anonymous gifts, generous philanthropic support is also being provided by the Kaneko Family, Koret Foundation, James Lin and Nisa Leung, and Alice N. Y. Woo.  Read more about this and other stories in Dean Minor’s The Brief.