Multi-Generational Giving Focuses on Parkinson’s

Over seven decades and three generations, the Hoffman and Popovich families have made a transformative investment in USC—including support for groundbreaking medical research, which recently took on new territory with establishment of the Hoffman Foundation Endowed Chair in Neurodegenerative Diseases.

The Hoffman Foundation’s $5 million gift to endow the new chair will extend the pioneering research in Parkinson’s and other cognitive diseases underway at the USC Mark and
Mary Stevens Neuroimaging and Informatics Institute (Stevens INI) and Keck School of Medicine of USC.

“Our parents and grandparents instilled an awareness in us that a strong USC and strong community are connected,” says Kimberly Shepherd, one of three granddaughters of H. Leslie and Elaine Stevely Hoffman, who launched the Hoffman Foundation in the 1950s. “We find it particularly rewarding to support such a critical area of need as neurodegenerative diseases like Parkinson’s.”

The Stevens INI and Keck School of Medicine are recognized as world leaders in brain research. They have earned global attention and National Institutes of Health funding for such breakthroughs as the development of machine learning models to aid in early diagnosis of Parkinson’s and blood plasma biomarkers to detect Parkinson’s through simple blood tests.

The Stevens INI is home to the world’s largest archive of brain images from Parkinson’s patients, as well as the largest archive of neuroimaging data, and serves as the national repository for neurodegenerative disease research data.

“We have scientists around the world cooperating, sharing their data, sharing their tools, sharing their results. This is accelerating the pace of discovery beyond anything that has happened before,” says Arthur Toga, PhD, Ghada Irani Chair in Neuroscience and Director Stevens INI. “We are grateful to the Hoffman Foundation for giving us a tremendous opportunity to take our work even further.”

“The progress we have realized already in neurodegenerative diseases is significant, yet it’s only the beginning of what we can achieve,” says Carolyn Meltzer, MD, dean of the Keck School of Medicine and the May S. and John H. Hooval, MD, Dean’s Chair. “This generous gift from the Hoffman Foundation will enable us to unlock more of the brain’s many mysteries.”

The Hoffmans contributed millions of dollars to support USC’s Master Plan, in addition to making major gifts to construct the Elaine Stevely Hoffman Medical Research Center at the Keck School of Medicine and the H. Leslie Hoffman Hall of Business Administration at USC Marshall School of Business.

Their tradition of giving extended to the next two generations, first with their daughter, Jane Hoffman Popovich and her husband, J. Kristoffer Popovich ’65, MBA ’70. The couple provided the lead gift to build Jane Hoffman Popovich and J. Kristoffer Popovich Hall at USC Marshall School and later established the Popovich Family Scholarship Fund, among other giving.

The Hoffman Foundation Endowed Chair in Neurodegenerative Diseases marks the third chair established by the Hoffman Foundation—the first two were the H. Leslie Hoffman and Elaine S. Hoffman Chair in Cancer Research and the Jane and Kris Popovich Chair in Cancer Research which sit at the USC Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center.

The family’s third generation, who helped take the lead in this latest gift, include their daughters and sons-in-law, Kimberly and Robert Shepherd, Tricia and Michael Fink and Jennifer ‘96 and Christopher Allen MBA ’09.

“Scientists at USC are on the brink of life-changing discoveries that we in the Hoffman Foundation believe could make a tremendous impact—for patients everywhere with neurodegenerative disorders,” says Kimberly Shepherd.

Expanding Connections
Researchers at Stevens INI and the Keck School of Medicine have already tapped into USC’s unrivaled data bank to spark a revolution in biomarker detection.

The inaugural chairholder—anticipated to be appointed in 2026—will be well positioned to unravel such questions about Parkinson’s and other conditions, such as how to achieve early diagnoses and stop disease progression.

One of the primary goals for this research program is global reach—making invaluable connections with fellow scientists who share this mission, such as occurring in the ENIGMA Consortium housed in Stevens INI. In this alliance of 2,000-plus scientists in 45 countries, neuroimaging studies are tackling more than 30 major brain diseases.

“The holder of the Hoffman Foundation Endowed Chair in Neurodegenerative Diseases will have the freedom to think big and pursue unconventional but highly promising research avenues,” says Dr. Toga. “This is where truly game-changing breakthroughs happen.”