IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) – The University of Iowa says a $45 million donation will fund a center to research diseases that affect the brain and nervous system. The Iowa Neuroscience Institute will investigate causes, preventions, treatments and cures. It will be led by Ted Abel, a University of Pennsylvania professor who will join Iowa’s faculty in January.

The gift comes from the university’s largest donor, the Roy J. Carver Charitable Trust, which has now given $195 million. It was founded after the 1981 death of Carver, a Muscatine businessman and philanthropist.

The center will bring together top researchers from across the university, including biologists, computer scientists and engineers. The donation will support laboratories, research projects and faculty salaries. Medical school dean Jean Robillard says the gift will foster “a new era of scientific innovation.”