Neuroscientist Emanuel DiCicco-Bloom doesn't watch football, but he's a big fan of the Super Bowl-bound Philadelphia Eagles and its owner, Jeffrey Lurie.
Lurie recruited DiCicco-Bloom to be the scientific advisor of the Eagles Autism Foundation, a post that lets the Robert Wood Johnson Medical School professor help direct millions in research dollars toward understanding one of medicine's most prevalent neurodevelopmental conditions.
"Jeffrey is inspiring, has a deep respect for science and understands its challenges, which makes his foundation different from many other family-based non-profits," DiCicco-Bloom said.
DiCicco-Bloom, a professor of neuroscience and cell biology and pediatrics, brings considerable expertise to the role. He has chaired the National Institutes of Health's Developmental Brain Disorders study section and serves on numerous scientific panels, including the Autism Science Foundation and American Brain Coalition. This background helped shape the foundation's distinctive approach after Lurie, whose brother has autism, launched it in 2017.
As fund-raising efforts have brought in increasing amounts of money, the foundation's grant program has grown from $2.4 million in 2018 to over $10 million today.
