About

The Salk Institute is an independent, nonprofit research organization founded in 1960 by Jonas Salk, developer of the first safe and effective polio vaccine. The Institute buildings are an architectural landmark, designed by renowned architect Louis Kahn, overlooking the Pacific Ocean in La Jolla, California.

To explore the fundamental processes of life for the benefit of all and to empower the next generation of scientists.

Salk is home to one of seven US National Cancer Institute-Designated Cancer Centers dedicated to basic laboratory research. Other major areas of research at Salk are healthy aging, immunobiology, neuroscience, metabolism, plant biology, biochemistry, and computational biology.

Salk scientists study the basic principles of biology across multiple research areas to address pressing global challenges, such as cancer, diabetes, Alzheimer’s disease, and crop resilience.

Basic research seeks to uncover fundamental truths about biology, health, and the environment, often without immediate commercial applications. This kind of research lays the groundwork for nearly every major scientific breakthrough, from vaccines and cancer therapies to advances in neuroscience and agricultural science. By understanding how life works at its most basic levels, scientists can develop transformative solutions for the future. Without foundational research, the translational scientists wouldn’t have anything to “translate” to the clinic.

Foundational research is primarily funded through a combination of competitive government grants, private foundations, and philanthropy. While public funding supports many projects, it often prioritizes short-term outcomes. Philanthropic support is essential to fuel bold, high-risk ideas and long-term discoveries that traditional funding sources may overlook.

Salk discoveries have led to new therapeutic approaches that overturned previous thinking, including, for example:

• Discovery of a cellular switch called tyrosine phosphorylation, which has led to more than 60 cancer drugs that work by inhibiting that switch. The first of these drugs is Gleevec (imatinib), which is used to treat leukemias and other blood cancers.
• Discovery of peptide hormone production in the brain that controls the release of hormones from the pituitary and other organs. One such peptide, somatostatin, is used to treat neuroendocrine tumors and other endocrine diseases.
• Discovery of neurotransmitter receptors for acetylcholine and glutamate, which are important drug targets for the treatment of myasthenia gravis, Alzheimer’s disease, and neuropsychiatric disorders.
• Discovery of nuclear hormone receptors, which are now primary targets in the treatment of breast cancer, prostate cancer, pancreatic cancer, leukemia, osteoporosis, and asthma.
• Pioneering work on neural networks that formed the foundation for remarkable advances in artificial intelligence and machine learning.
• Discovery that the adult brain continues to produce new neurons throughout life in a process called neurogenesis, contrary to previously accepted dogma, opening new avenues for research on Alzheimer’s and other neurodegenerative diseases.
• Discovery of the health benefits of time-restricted eating, including weight loss, blood sugar regulation, and improved metabolic function.

The Salk Institute will continue to be a global leader in biological research at the cutting edge of scientific innovation. It will continue to attract the world’s most talented scientists to an environment that is entirely focused on making impactful scientific discoveries. New research directions for Salk science include:

• Substantial investment in biocomputation technologies, including artificial intelligence, to support all areas of Salk science.
• A new Neuroimmunology Initiative that combines Salk’s world-leading neuroscientists and immunobiologists to address neuroinflammatory diseases, especially Alzheimer’s.
• Multi-investigator efforts by Salk Cancer Center researchers to address the most deadly cancers, studying cancer cells in the context of their local environment, as populated by immune cells and other cell types.
• Advancing plant science, with a focus on understanding the mechanisms of root-enhancing traits and combining those traits to provide Salk Ideal Plants that can achieve large-scale carbon dioxide sequestration, improve crop resilience, and enrich soils.
• Combining molecular, cellular, and physiologic approaches to the study of metabolism and aging, with an emphasis on how each individual’s aging process is driven by their unique biology, background, environment, and lifestyle.
• Concerted efforts in behavioral neuroscience, linking the neural circuits that underlie behavior to the physical and social environment of the individual. The development of novel imaging techniques.

With philanthropic investment, Salk will recruit top faculty members, research staff, and scientific trainees to conduct research in pursuit of breakthrough discoveries. Salk also helps build a diverse STEM career pipeline through research and training programs for high school, college, and graduate students and postdoctoral trainees. All gifts to Salk are used to support its research enterprise.