Philadelphia Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie has once again demonstrated his dedication to supporting autism research and care by making a $50 million donation to the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and Penn Medicine to launch the Lurie Autism Institute, the non-profits announced Tuesday.
According to Penn and CHOP, the Luries’ gift is “the largest single donation to U.S. academic medical centers focused on autism research across the lifespan.”
Through this new joint initiative, Chop and Penn will have a dedicated center for studying the causes of autism and researching treatment options, reshaping how medicine, and the world understands and treats autism.
According to Penn, through this initiative, they will be able to develope a better understanding of the genetics and biological processes underlying autism, research how the diverse behaviors among the autism spectrum manifest and then evolve, explore why some cases see minimal speaking ability by utilizing brain and language science, utilize the latest in AI advancements to analyze large-scale biological and behavioral data, conduct clinical trials, and much more.
By partnering with both Chop and Penn, this initiative will be able to bolster autism research in both children and adults.
Powered by Penn Medicine and CHOP’s long history of partnering on transformative breakthroughs for the care of both children and adults, the Lurie Autism Institute is poised to make fresh discoveries that will reshape how we understand and treat autism.
The Lurie family’s long history of support of autism research and those living with ASD is well-documented and dates back to 1977 when Lurie’s mother, Nancy Lurie Marks, founded the Nancy Lurie Marks Family Foundation. Eventually, this led to the creation of the Lurie Center for Autism at Massachusetts General Hospital in 2009, followed by the Eagles Autism Foundation in 2018—created by Jeffrey Lurie, and now the Lurie Autism Institute at CHOP and Penn Medicine.
“We established the Lurie Autism Institute to spark a new era of scientific discovery in autism. CHOP and Penn Medicine bring unmatched expertise and a proven record of innovation, and together, they have the tools to unlock answers that have eluded the field for far too long,” Lurie said in a press release, “By investing in cutting-edge science and the infrastructure to move it forward, we’re aiming not just to understand autism more deeply—but to transform what’s possible for individuals and families worldwide.”
