‘UNDERMINED’

University of Southern California to Pay $50M to UC San Diego for ‘Sabotaged’ Alzheimer’s Research Program

The university also agreed to publicly apologize to the University of California at San Diego for seizing control of the program in 2015.

The University of Southern California (USC) has agreed to pay the University of California at San Diego (UCSD) $50 million for the way USC seized control of an Alzheimer’s research program from UCSD in 2015. A lawsuit over the matter alleged that USC took control of the program’s data and contracts worth tens of millions of dollars. USC disclosed that it had gotten eight out of the program's 10 contracts after convincing sponsors that it was better suited to complete the research than UCSD, and a short time later, it opened a research center in San Diego. USC also agreed to publicly apologize to UCSD as part of a settlement of the lawsuit. David Brenner, UCSD’s vice chancellor of health sciences, told The San Diego Union-Tribune that he was glad there was a settlement. “USC undermined our ability to do research. We have recovered under new leadership, we’re better than ever, and we’re working on trials,” Brenner said. “This was about how USC sabotaged our program.”