The University of Maryland School of Medicine has announced a $45 million gift from Ken and Sheila Cafferty to establish the first major U.S. research enterprise devoted to the study of autoimmune and inflammatory diseases such as celiac disease, multiple sclerosis, Type 1 diabetes, and asthma.

The largest gift ever to the UM system includes $40 million to develop a new multidisciplinary academic organization that integrates the School of Medicine's Mucosal Biology Research Center and the Center for Celiac Research, while adding a third division focused on the intersection between the human body and the microbes that inhabit the body. The remaining $5 million will be used to endow a distinguished professorship that supports a director position in perpetuity at the research enterprise. Alessio Fasano, a world-renowned celiac disease researcher and professor at the School of Medicine, will be the first recipient of the endowed professorship and will lead the new enterprise.

"For years, my wife struggled with severe symptoms, with no diagnosis and no treatment for her condition," said Ken Cafferty, a businessman from Carmel, Indiana. "I endured this struggle with her, until Dr. Fasano and his staff...finally found answers for us, diagnosing Shelia with gluten sensitivity. We are making this gift with the hope that this new enterprise will help provide answers for other families in the same position, and hopefully make strides toward a cure to provide permanent relief for patients like Shelia."