Even before the Philadelphia Eagles’ legendary win at the Super Bowl on Sunday, the Eagles Autism Foundation had praised the University of Connecticut School of Medicine (SOM) for its innovative autism research, according to UConn Today.
The football team manages the Eagles Autism Foundation, staying “dedicated to improving lives by investing every dollar donated into research and care programs to improve access, outcomes and opportunities,” according to Kylie Kelce, an ambassador for the foundation.
One initiative of the foundation is the Eagles Autism Challenge, which aims to fund innovative research and drive breakthroughs, according to their website. This year, the UConn School of Medicine was chosen to be one of the 22 programs to receive part of the $8.1 million in grant funding, according to a statement by the team.
Since 2018, nearly 170 autism research programs and projects have been funded by the foundation, both internationally and nationally, according to the foundation’s website. In that time, over $30 million has been raised from the team’s signature charity event, according to Eagles Chairman and CEO, Jeffrey Lurie.
A neuroscience professor at UConn SOM, Dr. Eric S. Levine, served on the Eagles Autism Foundation’s advisory board for the past three years, before applying UConn’s autism research program to the grant this year, according to UConn Today.
The award has provided Levine and his board $400,000 for the next two years to expand the Levine Laboratory and their work on finding the genetic pathways that may cause autism spectrum disorder, according to a Fox 61 article.
The team has done significant work studying the rare genetic diseases that are linked to autism, Angelman Syndrome and Dup15q Syndrome, according to their homepage.
“This is unique, personalized medicine, and a better way for us to study the genomics and physiology of a real child’s brain cells and the possible role multiple genes may be playing leading to autism,” stated Levine. “It’s very exciting to pivot our autism research to translational research studying actual patient-derived human neurons.”
According to Levine, his goal for the future is to compare neurons of his patients and identify the specific role different genes play in their brains and hopefully identify the causation of autism.
Levine said he is thankful for the support of the Eagles Autism Foundation, and “is always rooting for the Eagles and more winning touchdowns helping to advance our scientific insights into autism,” according to UConn Today.
The fundraising event occurs each year, and this year will be the eighth-annual Eagles Autism Challenge, taking place on Saturday, May 17. Registration details can be found by visiting EaglesAutismChallenge.org.