A $2 million investment at Michigan State University College of Human Medicine by the Mall Family Foundation has empowered the recruitment of genetic autism research expert Lucas Pozzo-Miller, PhD, to MSU as the inaugural Mall Family Endowed Professor in Genetic Autism Research.

“The Mall family’s commitment to advancing and treating genetic autism has helped us to successfully recruit one of the nation’s top experts to MSU with the magnet of endowed funding,” said MSU College of Human Medicine Dean Aron Sousa, MD. “The innovations we anticipate seeing will surely advance human health, and we are incredibly excited at the research possibilities.”

The Mall Family Foundation was formed in 2007 to support a wide variety of education, community and health-related nonprofits, and for more than a decade, has been an essential partner in supporting MSU genetic autism research. The Mall’s grandson was diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder in 2003, which has served as a deep personal motivation for making MSU funding commitments.

“We are so excited at the research possibilities, and with Dr. Pozzo-Miller being right here in Grand Rapids, we feel incredibly hopeful,” Tom Mall said. “The recent advances employed by MSU’s research team in big data, AI technology, and genetic editing using CRISPR technology brings us more confidence that autism can be conquered.”

Coming to MSU last December from the University of Alabama at Birmingham, where he led a lab team of neuroscientists over the last 25 years, Pozzo-Miller’s research is primarily focused on the neurobiological bases of syndromic forms of autism caused by single gene variants, combining cutting-edge experimental approaches. As a lead scientific investigator at MSU, Pozzo-Miller will shed new light on autism, to aid in understanding and development of interventions to ultimately help those affected.