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New Lurie Autism Institute to Advance Autism Discovery Across the Lifespan
Published on June 11, 2025 in Cornerstone Blog · Last updated 1 month ago
A $50 million gift from the Lurie family will open doors of discovery for autism research with the Lurie Autism Institute, a joint initiative between Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and Penn Medicine. The transformative investment continues the Lurie family’s longtime legacy of support for children and adults affected by autism spectrum disorder (ASD). It is the largest single donation to academic medicine in the U.S. focused on autism research across the lifespan.
“We established the Lurie Autism Institute to spark a new era of scientific discovery in autism,” stated Jeffrey Lurie, Chairman and CEO of the Philadelphia Eagles and founder of the Eagles Autism Foundation, in a press release.
Bringing together top experts from CHOP and Penn Medicine, the Institute aims to be a global hub that will advance the science surrounding the most challenging and important questions about ASD across the lifespan, from how to enhance quality of life for individuals with ASD to the biological mechanisms underlying ASD.
“We are so grateful to the Lurie Family for their ongoing support of autism research, which will build on the success of established programs like the Center for Autism Research at CHOP and the Autism Spectrum Program of Excellence at Penn by bringing the top experts in the field together to make breakthroughs in autism research and care,” stated Madeline Bell, CHOP CEO.
Advancing Autism Science
The Institute has so far highlighted several areas of focus for research, including improving our understanding of the complex biological processes of autism, elucidating how different ASD behaviors manifest and evolve across the lifespan, and translating discoveries to advance precision therapeutic approaches.
The Institute will seek to better understand autism-related genes and their potential as therapeutic targets, develop more advanced lab models to ascertain how autism affects brain function across the lifespan, and explore why some individuals with autism have minimal speaking ability, using insights from brain and language science.
As an international hub for ASD scientists, experts, and clinicians, the Institute will develop a specialized certificate program for PhD trainees and postdoctoral fellows called the Next-Generation Program in Autism. In addition, it will also host an annual International Symposium welcoming experts from around the world.
“CHOP and Penn Medicine have an incredible depth of talent and resources that combined will spur collaboration to advance our understanding of the best approaches to diagnosis and treatment for ASD across the lifetime,” said CHOP Research Institute Executive Vice President and Chief Scientific Officer Sue Furth, MD, PhD.
The Lurie Legacy
If existing Lurie research initiatives are anything to go by, the power and potential of the Institute is extraordinary: Since 2016, Lurie’s Eagles Autism Foundation has funded a variety of CHOP research and community impact projects to the tune of more than $6 million – including $1.3 million in 2025 for five cutting-edge autism projects from CHOP labs. (Meet the 2025 award recipients in this Cornerstone story.) In 2018, Jeffrey Lurie created the Eagles Autism Foundation and its superstar event, the Eagles Autism Challenge, to fund innovative research, drive scientific breakthroughs, and provide critical resources to the autism community.
Now, the new Lurie Autism Institute will build on the successful history of these initiative as well as those of Nancy Lurie Marks, who founded the Nancy Lurie Marks Family Foundation in 1977 to help individuals with autism lead fulfilling and rewarding lives.
“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.