I’m Osvaldo Gutiérrez, Professor in the UCLA Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry and Senior Faculty STEM Director of the UCLA Chicano Studies Research Center (CSRC).  I earned both my bachelor’s and master’s degrees in chemistry from UCLA in 2009. Our department is nationally recognized for both its innovative educational programs and groundbreaking research. Hands-on experimentation in our labs is at the heart of everything we do, fostering curiosity and discovery among our students.

In November of 2023, we launched a fundraising campaign to support the purchase of new instrumentation for our facilities, the UCLA Molecular Instrumentation Center (MIC) and the UCLA-DOE Biochemistry Instrumentation Core Facility (BIF). For more information on these spaces, please continue scrolling down the page. 

Chemistry and biochemistry come alive through hands-on experimentation, but students and researchers cannot explore, discover, or innovate without the right tools. Access to cutting-edge instrumentation is essential for students to remain at the forefront of research and to prepare to tackle the world’s greatest challenges.  

As an undergraduate researcher, I was in awe at the vast array of cutting-edge instruments available at the fingertips of all students at the MIC and BIF. Access to these instruments for experimental and computational research inspired me to shift my focus from medical school to pursuing a Ph.D. in chemistry. Twenty years later, I returned to UCLA to lead a team of researchers using these same resources to accelerate the development of more affordable medicines. Today, your support is more important than ever to help maintain this critical infrastructure at UCLA.

Now, UCLA students and researchers rely on these same instruments more than ever to push the boundaries of knowledge. Your support ensures they have the tools they need to succeed, just as I once did. Stand with me and the department—together, we can empower the next generation of scientists.

We aim to raise $50,000 of funding for new lab purchases. Because we feel so strongly about this initiative, we are matching gifts of any size 1:1 and qualifying gifts 2:1. This is a unique opportunity to double or triple your impact.

For additional information about our previous fundraising campaign, the instruments that were purchased, and the generous donors whose support made these efforts possible, please click here.

To learn more about the double match offer (gifts $5-100K), please contact Loida De Leon, Director of Development, at ldeleon@support.ucla.edu or 310-403-3043.

Molecular Instrumentation Center (MIC)

The MIC is a campuswide, state-of-the-art core facility that enables the use of modern instrumentation in molecular characterizations. The MIC is housed within and managed through the UCLA Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry, and is open for Bruin researchers, other academic institutions and commercial enterprises. The purpose of the MIC is to meet the needs of the UCLA scientific community by providing all aspects of technical support in the application of modern instrumentation to solve problems in cutting-edge scientific research.

Biochemistry Instrumentation Core Facility (BIF)

The UCLA-DOE Biochemistry Instrumentation Core Facility provides the UCLA biochemistry community with easy access to sophisticated instrumentation for a wide variety of biomolecular characterizations, including molecular weight determination, kinetic and thermodynamic analysis of ligand binding, structural characterization, gel documentation and analysis, radioisotope detection, and quantification and spectroscopy.

►Instructions for giving via Donor Advised Fund, wire transfer, stocks/securities, etc. can be found here. All gifts to the Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry are directed through the UCLA Foundation (Tax ID# 95-2250801). For general giving questions, please contact Loida De Leon at ldeleon@support.ucla.edu or (310) 405-3043. 

CLICK HERE TO READ THE UCLA FOUNDATION'S DISCLOSURE STATEMENTS FOR DONORS

Should this fund reach the campus minimum required for the establishment of an endowment or quasi-endowment, The UCLA Foundation reserves the right to convert this fund to an endowment or quasi-endowment. Please click here to learn more about how the UCLA Foundation invests and manages its endowments.

Gifts are managed and invested in accordance with UCLA’s endowment investment policies. The total return earned in excess of the amount approved annually for payout will be retained in the endowment principal to protect from the effects of inflation and to allow for growth. At the discretion of the appropriate campus office, when the payout is not needed for purposes of the fund, the return of payout may be added to the endowment fund principal. In the event the fund does not reach endowment minimum; or the program ceases to exist at UCLA, proceeds from the fund will be utilized in an area and manner as closely related as possible to the original intent and purposes for which the fund was established.

Although the Endowment is intended to exist in perpetuity, unforeseen circumstances may alter or remove the subject area from the campus academic plan or it may become impossible, impracticable or wasteful to administer. In such an event, the Chancellor is authorized to redesignate the purpose of the Endowment, after taking into consideration the designated endowment purpose.