A $100 million gift establishes a UChicago institute focused on microbiome and immunity

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Members of the Duchossois Family Foundation, including (back row, from left) Craig Duchossois, Janet Duchossois, Ilaria Woodward, Jessica Swoyer Green, Dayle Duchossois Fortino, (seated, from left) Ashley Joyce, Richard Duchossois and Kimberly Duchossois. Photo by Richard Shay

The University of Chicago received a $100 million gift that will establish The Duchossois Family Institute: Harnessing the Microbiome and Immunity for Human Health.

The institute will bring together the university’s strengths in genetics, immunology, microbiome research, and computation to develop research and interventions focused on optimizing health.

The gift was made by the Duchossois Group Inc. Chairman and CEO Craig Duchossois, his wife Janet Duchossois, and The Duchossois Family Foundation.

The Duchloss family first provided support to UChicago in 1980, when Richard Duchossois established the Beverly E. Duchossois Cancer Fund in memory of his wife. In the years since, the family has given $37 million to the medical center to drive innovation and transformative care, including a named professorship and several cancer research funds, as well as a $21 million gift in 1994 to establish the Duchossois Center for Advanced Medicine.

The Duchossois gift is the single largest in support of UChicago Medicine, and it is the fourth gift of $100 million or more to the University of Chicago.

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