Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) has announced $13 million in funding to support its recently launched Center for Microbial Medicine. The funding comes from the McCausland Foundation, the Chappell Culpeper Family Foundation, and another donor.
The Center for Microbial Medicine is focused on translating discoveries in microbial medicine into clinical care to improve pediatric health. Using advanced sequencing and analytical techniques, the center will study patients’ microbiomes—the communities of organisms living in the gut—to inform clinical decisions. The center aims to identify early biomarkers of disease and predict how children will respond to treatments for a range of conditions, including inflammatory and metabolic disorders, allergies, and cancer. Plans also include developing new treatment options by leveraging insights from the microbiome.
In addition to these research efforts, the center is partnering with infectious disease specialists and clinical diagnostics teams at CHOP to use sequencing technology for tracking pathogens and monitoring outbreaks. These activities are intended to help develop prevention strategies and reduce infection risks among children at CHOP. The initiative will be housed within the upcoming Morgan Center for Research and Innovation.
“With these incredible gifts, CHOP will continue to become a world leader in microbial medicine,” said Joseph Zackular, PhD, co-director of the Center for Microbial Medicine. “We will also have unprecedented opportunities to better diagnose and treat a wide range of pediatric conditions. The entire team at CHOP is grateful for the contributions of the McCausland Foundation, the Chappell Culpeper Family Foundation, and the additional donor, whose shared commitment to advancing pediatric research and care has made this dream a reality. Their generosity will have a lasting impact on countless young people and their families.”
Peter and Bonnie McCausland have been long-term supporters of CHOP; their foundation established an endowed chair in fetal and pediatric surgery in 2020. Their daughter Elizabeth Salata and her husband Kyle Salata are advocates for microbial medicine research at CHOP.
The Chappell Culpeper Family Foundation was founded by John Chappell with his daughter Jennifer Paradis Behle as CEO. Previous support from this foundation helped launch CHOP’s first Frontier Program focused on lymphatic disorders as well as other projects such as prenatal gene editing research.
“Along with myself, the Center is led by world leaders in microbial medicine, Drs. Robert Baldassano, Paul Planet and Ahmed Moustafa, and we are proud to be the premier pediatric center in the microbial medicine space and to make a huge difference in children’s healthcare,” added Dr. Zackular. “This Center has the chance to impact pediatric medicine across all disciplines, diseases and disorders — a truly forward-thinking initiative for CHOP. We thank these donors for their generosity and look forward to continuing a meaningful partnership to improve the lives of children.”
More information about CHOP’s Center for Microbial Medicine can be found at https://www.research.chop.edu/center-for-microbial-medicine.
