Andrew Viterbi Donates $5 Million to Sanford Burnham Prebys for AI Research

May 5, 2026
Andrew Viterbi, co-founder of Qualcomm, has donated $5 million to establish the Andrew and Erna Viterbi Distinguished Chair at Sanford Burnham Prebys' Center for Data Science and Artificial Intelligence, supporting advancements in computational biology and biomedical research.

Andrew Viterbi, co-founder of Qualcomm Technologies, has donated $5 million to Sanford Burnham Prebys to support its Center for Data Science and Artificial Intelligence, announced in a press release. The contribution establishes the Andrew and Erna Viterbi Distinguished Chair, which will be held by Yuk-Lap (Kevin) Yip, PhD, the center’s director and a specialist in computational biology and bioinformatics.

The Center for Data Science and Artificial Intelligence integrates expertise in AI, statistics, and genetics to analyze complex biological data. It recently introduced a computational biology tool that automates genome sequencing analysis, allowing researchers to decode entire genomes from multiple samples in a single experiment.

Viterbi’s gift aims to strengthen the institute’s research capacity and attract leading scientists focused on AI applications in human health. Sanford Burnham Prebys stated that the endowed chair will help advance discoveries at the intersection of data science, artificial intelligence, and medicine.

We hope you enjoyed this article

Consider subscribing to one of our newsletters like Life AI Weekly or Daily AI Brief.

Also, consider following us on social media:

Healthcare & Life Sciences AI AI Brief AI Brief (X)
Free newsletter

Life AI Weekly

Weekly coverage of AI applications in healthcare, drug development, biotechnology research, and genomics breakthroughs.

Guide
Specialist Ambient Medical Scribe Vendors

Specialist Ambient Medical Scribe Vendors

AI scribes that turn medical consultations into draft clinical notes

Whitepaper

Tensordyne Napier: What If One Rack Could Do the Work of Nine?

Tensordyne

This Tensordyne whitepaper presents Napier, an inference-focused AI processor and rack-scale system based on the company’s TDN Math logarithmic number system. It examines infrastructure requirements for large mixture-of-experts and agentic models, compares major inference architecture approaches, and details the TDN AIP processor, TDN72 pod, TDN Link fabric, and Napier Ultra configuration. The paper reports simulation-based performance, cost, and accuracy-validation results, including Tensordyne’s projected comparison of one Napier rack with a nine-rack Nvidia Rubin plus Groq deployment; the chip is reported as taped out and in fabrication.

Read more

You may also like

Free, six days a week

Daily AI Brief: the AI news that matters, in your inbox.