Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie donates $50 million to CHOP, Penn Medicine for Lurie Autism Institute
Philadelphia Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie is donating $50 million to Children's Hospital of Philadelphia and Penn Medicine to support a new autism research initiative, the team and the institutions announced Tuesday.
With his game face on, Lurie announced the $50 million donation to CHOP and Penn Medicine to create the Lurie Autism Institute.
"Let's be bold, let's lead, and let's build a future where autism science moves faster, reaches further and benefits everyone," he said.
The new autism institute is aiming to help families like Mony and Daniel McCarty, whose 6-year-old son, Snai, is on the spectrum.
"Gives family, like myself and others behind us, hope, hope is what keeps us alive," said Mony McCarty.
With interventions at CHOP, they said Snai is no longer nonverbal.
"He's thriving, and I feel with this $50 million donation, it's going to allow him to thrive even more," Daniel McCarty said.
For the Lurie family, it's also personal. His brother is on the autism spectrum.
"Our brother has been an inspiration and a kind soul to all of us," Lurie said.
The Lurie Autism Institute (LAI) will use artificial intelligence to analyze existing and ongoing research to develop new treatments.
"We really need to understand autism better. There's been a lot of progress, but there's a lot more to do," said Dr. Daniel Rader of Penn Medicine.
The LAI will work to improve understanding of the genetics and other processes underlying autism, study how behaviors on the spectrum grow and evolve across the lifespan, use AI to analyze data to identify new treatment targets and existing drugs that could be repurposed for autism and run clinical trials "that prioritize both behavioral and pharmacological interventions for [autism spectrum disorder]," Penn said.
Penn and CHOP already have 47 autism research teams that will now be able to expand their horizons.
"It's an honor to stand here with partners I deeply admire," said Lurie.
Lurie established the Eagles Autism Foundation in 2018. Lurie's mother, Nancy Lurie Marks, and her namesake foundation established the Lurie Center for Autism at Massachusetts General Hospital in 2009.
"We are honored to be part of making the Lurie Autism Institute possible because we know how much remains to be discovered about the nature of autism; the educational, social, and life issues for individuals and families with autism; and for society's understanding of autism," said Nancy Lurie Marks.
According to Penn Medicine, the gift is the largest single donation to U.S. academic medical centers focused on autism research across the lifespan.
A big focus of the research will be understanding how autism is impacted by environmental exposures, interacting with genetic predispositions.
For the McCarty family and millions of others, they're hoping for big advances from the $50 million gift.
"Life changing," said Mony McCarty.
