Penn State Health has received a $5 million gift.
With their gift, Peter and Marshia Carlino have established two new endowments to support faculty and research infrastructure at Penn State College of Medicine and added to Penn State Health’s inflammatory bowel disease patient support fund that the Carlinos created in 1998.
Peter Carlino, a1969 Penn State graduate, is the former CEO and current chairman emeritus of the board of Berks County-based Penn National Gaming.
“Our family knows the capability that physicians and scientists at Penn State Health and Penn State College of Medicine have to improve the lives of patients dealing with life-altering conditions like Crohn’s Disease or ulcerative colitis,” Peter Carlino, said in a news release.
In recognition of the gift, Penn State Health has renamed its inflammatory bowel disease center. The new Carlino Family Inflammatory Bowel Disease Center is the health system’s first named center, which brings together experts from multiple specialties to enhance diagnosis and treatment and pursue cures for patients with inflammatory bowel diseases such as Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis.
“We are truly grateful for Peter and Marshia’s commitment to advancing IBD care and research that will ultimately save and improve countless lives,” Penn State Health CEO Steve Massini, said in the news release. “Their support over more than 20 years has been instrumental in developing our nationally recognized IBD program, and their continued generosity ensures that our teams can provide the highest level of coordinated care to patients across central Pennsylvania and beyond.”
The newly established Peter and Marshia Carlino Faculty Endowment will support physician-scientists who have a dual focus on clinical care and research. With previous leadership gifts, the couple has now established five other faculty funds in IBD, including three early career professorships, a research professorship and an endowed chair position.
The couple also established the Carlino Family Inflammatory Bowel and Colorectal Diseases Biobank Endowment, which supports a vital resource for translational IBD research at the College of Medicine. The IBCD biobank, which was established in 1998 with initial support from the Carlinos, now includes blood, DNA and surgical specimens collected from more than 4,000 patients who have consented to having their tissues used for basic science research.
“Our IBCD biobank is the largest containing blood, DNA and surgical tissue samples from patients, which allows us to do a remarkable amount of research into the genetics and causes of IBD,” said Dr. Walter Koltun, director of the Carlino Family IBD Center and Peter and Marshia Carlino Chair of IBD in the Division of Colorectal Surgery.
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