The Ellison Medical Institute — a cancer research center funded by tech mogul Larry Ellison — will cut a chunk of its staff in a couple of months.
The Los Angeles-based research center, led by its founding chief executive and oncologist, David Agus, plans to permanently lay off 88 employees in January, according to a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification filed Nov. 4.
The institute describes itself as a medical research and development center focused on artificial intelligence, molecular analytics and interdisciplinary disease research and treatment, with preventative medicine and cancer clinics, research laboratories and community education programs.
The 84,000-square-foot institute is at 12414 Exposition Blvd., near the Expo/Bundy Metro station. Its LinkedIn company profile lists it as having 51 to 200 employees.
The Ellison Medical Institute did not respond to requests for comment on the reasons for the layoffs.
Ellison has long focused on cancer research and has made substantial donations to the cause.
In his Oracle AI World 2026 keynote speech, Ellison said AI will make most cancers “gone in five years, and certainly in 10.”
In 2016, Ellison donated $200 million to USC to build the interdisciplinary medical center focused on cancer.
The Lawrence J. Ellison Institute for Transformative Medicine of USC was meant to combine research with the holistic prevention and treatment of cancer. It later moved from USC. .
The institute has also been active in drug development. In June, it signed an exclusive license with UniQuest, the commercialization company of the University of Queensland in Australia, to advance a new prostate cancer treatment. The drug could reach first-in-human trials as early as 2027, according to a news release.
In 2025, the institute announced a research partnership with Salt AI, a Los Angeles-based company offering AI-powered tools for drug design. The institute also runs educational programs, including a three-week summer program for high school seniors.
Ellison and Agus also founded the Ellison Institute of Technology in Oxford, England.
Ellison Medical Institute’s layoffs come as other medical institutes, hospitals and healthcare providers in Los Angeles have also implemented layoffs and cutbacks.
Kaiser Permanente has plans to cut 147 business and administrative jobs across California, with layoffs starting Nov. 20. According to a state employment report filed Sept. 21, the reductions affect 16 locations, including 21 employees in Los Angeles County. San Diego will see the biggest impact, with 72 jobs cut.
Last year, Children’s Hospital Los Angeles laid off 5.8% of its staff as a result of outside pressures, including reduced Medi-Cal reimbursement rates. Keck Medicine of USC also laid off 89 employees in October 2025 to address a university-wide operating deficit.
In March, L.A. Care Health Plan laid off 225 employees, or nearly 3% of its workforce. L.A. Care is the nation’s largest publicly operated health plan, serving more than 2.6 million low-income Los Angeles County residents. The layoffs came amid federal and state budget cuts.
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