Trustees approve elevation of Lilly Purdue Research Alliance Center to institute status, scaling research and talent pipeline

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — The Purdue University Board of Trustees on Friday (June 5) approved elevating the Eli Lilly and Company and Purdue University Research Alliance Center (LPRC) to institute status and renaming it the Lilly Purdue Innovation Institute (LPII).

The move reflects the center’s rapid growth, expanded scope and demonstrated impact while positioning it to transition into a comprehensive, campuswide innovation engine that integrates research, talent development and workforce enablement.

Fueled by sustained growth since its founding in 2024 and the launch of the Lilly Purdue 360 Initiative in 2025, LPRC has scaled significantly:

• Increasing sponsored research investment from $50 million (2017-23) and $50 million (2023-25) to $250 million (2025-32)
• Expanding research areas from one program to six, now spanning the breadth of the Lilly enterprise
• Growing faculty and student participation in Lilly-funded research — more than 44 faculty and 120 students in 2026 — with additional growth expected
• Broadening campuswide engagement with a new membership model, drawing 186 faculty from nine colleges and Discovery Park District at Purdue within the first 30 days
• Developing a strong record of impact — including more than 155 intellectual property disclosures, 11 patents and one copyright, 143 publications, and a growing pipeline of Purdue students gaining direct experience through internships, co-ops and full-time roles at Lilly

Together, these gains position LPRC among Purdue’s leading institutes and underscore its expanding contribution to the university’s academic and research mission. As LPII, it will build upon this momentum to accelerate Purdue’s impact in several key ways:

• Delivering faster research through a more scalable, dedicated research workforce aligned to industry speed and execution
• Creating a platform for growth by accommodating existing programs such as agentic drug discovery, embodied AI and routes of administration into separate centers within the institute
• Strengthening Purdue’s national profile in health innovation and advancing the university’s One Health initiative

With its expanded scope and institute designation, the Lilly Purdue Innovation Institute is positioned to drive the next phase of innovation by translating research into real-world solutions while preparing the workforce needed to meet tomorrow’s health challenges.

About Purdue University

Purdue University is a public research university leading with excellence at scale. Ranked among top 10 public universities in the United States, Purdue discovers, disseminates and deploys knowledge with a quality and at a scale second to none. More than 106,000 students study at Purdue across multiple campuses, locations and modalities, including more than 57,000 at our main campus locations in West Lafayette and Indianapolis. Committed to affordability and accessibility, Purdue’s main campus has frozen tuition 14 years in a row. See how Purdue never stops in the persistent pursuit of the next giant leap — including its integrated, comprehensive Indianapolis urban expansion; the Mitch Daniels School of Business; Purdue Computes; and the One Health initiative — at https://www.purdue.edu/president/strategic-initiatives.