Eagles Owner Jeffrey Lurie Makes $50M Donation to CHOP, Penn Medicine for Lurie Autism Institute

Philadelphia Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie announced on Tuesday, June 10, that he is donating $50 million to the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) and Penn Medicine to support the establishment of the Lurie Autism Institute (LAI), a new autism research effort.

Penn Medicine officials stated that Lurie's gift is the largest single donation to U.S. academic medical centers dedicated to autism research across the life span.

"Let's be bold, let's lead, and let's build a future where autism science moves faster, reaches further, and benefits everyone," Lurie said in a media statement shared by CBS News Philadelphia.

For Lurie, the desire to support autism research is personal. His brother is on the autism spectrum.

According to CBS News Philadelphia, LAI will employ artificial intelligence to analyze existing and continuing research to develop new treatments for autism. 

Additionally, the LAI will investigate the genetics and other underlying factors that contribute to autism while studying how behaviors on the autism spectrum develop and evolve across a person's life span. AI will also enable LAI to consider data that can help identify new treatment measures and evaluate existing drugs that may apply to autism.

"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, who spoke at the media event.

Penn Medicine and CHOP employ 47 autism research teams that, thanks to the LIA, will be able to expand their operations.

Lurie created the Eagles Autism Foundation in 2018. His mother, Nancy Lurie Marks, and her 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," Marks said in a prepared statement.