Marcus’ legacy lives on, and his philanthropic foundation now nods to one of his original passions: medicine.

https://marcusfoundation.org/” href=“https://marcusfoundation.org/”>The Marcus Foundation, established in 1989 by Bernie and his wife, Billi, donated $28.7 million to Dr. Chuck Murry, director of the University of Southern California’s Stem Cell Center, to advance clinical trials of stem cell-based therapies to regenerate damaged tissue after a heart attack.

“Murry and his team have advanced gene-edited cellular therapy to the point that the time is right to support cells as living medicine in this new form of treatment,” Jonathan Simons, chief science officer of The Marcus Foundation, said in a statement.