The University of Colorado has announced a $34 million pledge from the Denver-based Anna and J. Sie Foundation to establish an institute designed to help eradicate the ill effects associated with Down syndrome.

The new Linda Crnic Institute for Down Syndrome at the University of Colorado Denver's Anschutz Medical Campus will be the first facility to comprehensively address Down-related basic research, clinical research, and clinical care. The University of Colorado Denver, the University of Colorado at Boulder, and Children's Hospital in Aurora have each committed space, personnel, and overhead for the institute, which will recruit top researchers inside and outside the field of Down syndrome.

Within ten years, the institute is expected to grow into a $150 million organization with a staff of more than one hundred and sixty people. "One of the focuses of the [institute] is to better understand ways to improve the cognitive ability of people with Down syndrome," said Dr. William C. Mobley, the institute's executive director. "Through research and improved care, we can make it easier for them to go to school, make friends, have jobs, get married, and ultimately live independently."