The Philadelphia Eagles announced on Friday that owner Jeffrey Lurie is supporting London-based autism research with a $500,000 pilot grant and a $170,000 post-doctoral fellowship.
The $670,000 investment will "support basic and clinical research, studies concentrating on affected individuals and families, and diverse model systems," according to the team. The two-year, post-doctoral fellowship will fund the selected fellow’s research at the Lurie Autism Institute in Philadelphia.
The announcement came ahead of Sunday's game between the Eagles and the Jacksonville Jaguars in London.
“We are grateful to the London community for embracing our organization and making this trip so meaningful,” Lurie said in a statement. “While we look forward to celebrating with our fans – both at home and abroad – this Sunday at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, we take this moment to reflect on the productive and thoughtful conversations that were shared with some of the world’s foremost leaders in autism research and care. The goal was to mobilize our mission and help bring the autism community together through our authentic connection with the City of London. This program, along with the financial investment to fund groundbreaking research, validates our belief that the work being done in London will have a global impact.”
This past May, the ninth annual Eagles Autism Challenge [raised more](/the%20Eagles%20Autism%20Foundation%20has%20received%20more%20than%20240,000%20donations,%20which%20have%20helped%20raise%20a%20grand%20total%20of%20$56%20million.) than $16 million for innovative autism research and care programs.
Established in 2018, the Eagles Autism Foundation has raised more than $57 million.