Penn LDI Receives $3.5 Million Gift from the Son of Its Founding Benefactor

“A $3.5 million gift from Alan S. Davis, JD, and the Leonard and Sophie Davis Fund will enable the Leonard Davis Institute of Health Economics (LDI) to expand its Summer Undergraduate Mentored Research (SUMR) Program and also support LDI initiatives aimed at increasing population access to health insurance and health care. […]

The 3-month long SUMR Program includes an intense classroom curriculum taught by Penn faculty members and LDI Senior Fellows, who are among the top experts in their fields. Each SUMR scholar is also taken under the wing by a faculty mentor and directly involved in health services research projects for the duration of the summer. More than three dozen Penn faculty members and lab staffers volunteer to be SUMR mentors each year.

One of those mentors is Scott Halpern, MD, PhD, a Professor of Medicine, Epidemiology, and Medical Ethics and Health Policy at the Perelman School of Medicine: ‘My team and I have been privileged to work with SUMR students for each of the past 13 years and it’s been among the most rewarding experiences of my career. I often think we learn as much from them as they hopefully do from us, and it’s been incredible watching so many blossom into medical and graduate students and in many cases, now faculty. This generous gift could not have gone to a better cause—the program is a win-win-win for the students, sponsoring faculty, and ultimately society as a whole.'”

Read more at Penn LDI.