In 1996, the Burnham Institute was named to honor the generosity of Roberta and Malin Burnham and their family, and to reflect its broadening scientific foundation.

In 2007, philanthropist T. Denny Sanford gave the Institute $20 million through Sanford Health, the largest rural health system in the U.S. and a longtime beneficiary of Sanford. The gift helped the Burnham Institute create the Sanford Children’s Health Research Center.

Three years later, Sanford donated $50 million and the Institute became the Sanford-Burnham Medical Research Institute. In 2015, the name changed again to the Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute, honoring a $100 million gift from local philanthropist Conrad Prebys (1933-2016)