NASHVILLE, Tenn.—The Dan Marino Foundation has pledged $1.2 million over three years to establish the Marino Autism Research Institute at the Vanderbilt Kennedy Center‘s Treatment and Research Institute for Autism Spectrum Disorders and the University of Miami Center for Autism and Related Disabilities.
“This will be the first philanthropically funded ‘virtual institute’ designed to sponsor cross-university collaborative research and community outreach on autism,” Mary Partin, the foundation’s chief executive officer, said. “Dan and Claire Marino and the foundation’s board of directors believe that this collaboration between two exceptional centers at national universities will provide a powerful means to address key questions about the nature of autism and to accelerate the discovery of new strategies for treating and preventing autism.”
The formal announcement was made at the institute’s inaugural meeting on Sept. 26 in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
“The Dan Marino Foundation has developed a really exciting and novel approach to stimulate scientific and clinical interactions and to take advantage of the great research and treatment efforts that are occurring at Vanderbilt University and at the University of Miami,” Pat Levitt, director of the Vanderbilt Kennedy Center, said. “We are proud to be working with the foundation and the University of Miami to make this a great success.”
Starting in January 2006, the new institute will leverage the skills of researchers from both universities in psychology, neuroscience, medicine and special education to answer key questions regarding the causes of autism, identify the earliest behavioral and bio-markers of autism and develop more creative, evidence-based treatments to improve the lives of children with autism and their families.
Wendy Stone, professor of pediatrics and psychology and director of the Vanderbilt Kennedy Treatment and Research Institute for Autism Spectrum Disorders, will lead the Vanderbilt Kennedy Center effort. Peter Mundy, professor and director of the child and developmental psychology division and executive director of Center for Autism and Related Disabilities, will lead the University of Miami effort.
This latest donation continues a long history of support by the Marino Foundation for community services for people with autism. In conjunction with Miami Children’s Hospital, the foundation developed the Dan Marino Center in Weston, Fla., to provide services for children with autism and related neurodevelopmental disorders, and partnered with the University of Miami to support its clinicians at the Marino Center. In May 2005, the foundation expanded its national impact through a gift of $100,000 to the Vanderbilt Kennedy Center to create the Dan Marino Foundation Fellowships and Dan Marino Foundation Discovery Grants and to support the center’s autism community service programs. This pledge to found the new institute will enable the foundation to expand over the coming years to help more children in more places.
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Media contacts: Jan Rosemergy, (615) 322-8238
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