Penn Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania and Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) has announced a $25 million gift to establish the Center for Epilepsy and Neurodevelopmental Disorders (ENDD).

The gift, made by an anonymous donor in honor of the late television executive Daniel B. Burke—whose son, Stephen B. Burke, served on the CHOP board—will bolster the efforts of an interdisciplinary group of clinicians and scientists and accelerate collaborative research in genetic therapies for neurodevelopmental disorders. ENDD will initially focus on developing therapies for disorders related to mutations of the STXBP1 and SYNGAP1 genes—which are linked to abnormal brain function, intellectual disability, epilepsy, and motor and behavioral impairments—with the goal of expanding its efforts to other genetic neurodevelopmental disorders over time.

“ENDD offers hope to patients and families living with the many challenges of rare, genetic neurodevelopmental disorders,” said J. Larry Jameson, dean of the Perelman School of Medicine and Penn’s executive vice president for the health system. “This important gift will accelerate the progress of an extraordinary partnership between Penn and CHOP that demonstrates the power of collaboration and a commitment to finding cures. We are incredibly grateful to this donor, whose dedication to the advancement of research in this area is sure to create the launch pad for a new outlook for those diagnosed with these conditions.”

(Photo credit: Getty Images/Sean Pavone)