Question: Raymond Perelman’s $50 million gift to research will help generations to come. But can you guess in what year CHOP established its first research lab?

Answer:  1922

The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia has a long and distinguished tradition of research that spans nearly a century. Established in 1922, our research program began in a single room in the Hospital basement. Today, CHOP’s Research Institute is one of the largest pediatric research programs in the world: It encompasses 800,000 square feet, employs more than 525 researchers, and has an annual budget of more than $300 million.

CHOP’s Research Institute is an international pioneer in pediatric medicine with a history of innovation and exploration. Highlights of CHOP’s research work include:

  • Developing six vaccines for measles, mumps, rubella, whooping cough, polio and influenza
  • Creating the first closed incubator for newborns, the first human chromosome sequencing and the first balloon catheter for nonsurgical treatment of certain heart defects
  • Identifying the genes responsible for diseases like Cornelia de Lange and Coffin-Siris syndromes 

Raymond G. Perelman’s recent $50 million gift will fuel even more breakthroughs for decades to come. Research at CHOP today reflects our commitment to improving children’s health and concentrates on basic, translational and clinical research. We are studying conditions such as diabetes, neonatal seizures, childhood cancer, hemophilia, pediatric heart disease, cystic fibrosis, intellectual disabilities, sickle cell disease, AIDS, and numerous other diseases and disorders that affect children.