Emory University in Atlanta has announced a $5 million commitment from the Marcus Foundation to the Department of Pediatrics in the university's school of medicine.

The grant will be used to create the Marcus Society in Pediatrics, which will serve as the "intellectual home" for fifteen professorships, including six that were previously established. The society also will host an annual visiting scholar. The nine newly funded Marcus Professors will specialize in rheumatology, general pediatrics and adolescent medicine, emergency medicine/faulty development, cystic fibrosis, neurology, immunology, cardiology, general academic pediatrics/hospital medicine, and hospital epidemiology/infection control. The professorships represent the greatest concentration of academic positions funded by a single donor in any one area at Emory.

"This support will enable our Department of Pediatrics to recruit and retain outstanding faculty and trainees and develop novel clinical, research, and educational programs," said Margery McKay, vice president for development in the Woodruff Health Sciences Center. "The benefits will be felt for years to come, not just at Amory and in Atlanta, but across pediatric disciplines nationally."