Kosair Charities gives $5 million for new pediatric heart research center
An artist's rendering of the Cardiovascular Innovation Institute, which is expected to open in 2006.
Children suffering from heart disease will soon benefit from a center in Louisville that specializes exclusively in children's heart research.
Kosair Charities has made a $5 million charitable commitment to the Cardiovascular Innovation Institute, a partnership of the University of Louisville, Jewish Hospital and Kentucky's Office for the New Economy, to create the Kosair Charities Pediatric Heart Research Center.
The pediatric center, announced June 11, will focus on assessing and developing better heart assist devices that meet the special needs of children.
Almost twice as many children die from congenital heart disease in the United States each year as die from all forms of childhood cancers combined, according to the American Heart Association. Moreover, at least eight infants out of 1,000 are born with a heart defect each year.
"Kosair Charities has led the way in the medical care of children since 1923," said Kosair Charities president Larry Hamfeldt. "We are delighted to aid this vital research so no child is born with a broken heart."
The $5 million grant will be used to create the Kosair Charities Chair in Pediatric Heart Surgery Research, a position whose holder will direct the center's research efforts, said James Ramsey, Ph.D., chair of the Cardiovascular Innovation Institute board and president of UofL.
The chair will receive state matching funds from the Research Challenge Trust Fund, more commonly called "Bucks for Brains." The funds also will provide seed funding for laboratory and clinical studies.
"This is a major step forward for us in our efforts with the Cardiovascular Innovation Institute," Ramsey said. "We are elated that our good friends at Kosair Charities have committed to partner with us on this important initiative."
Hank Wagner, vice chair of the institute board and president of Jewish Hospital HealthCare Services, said the gift will further enhance the facility's plan for leading-edge programs.
"I applaud Kosair Charities for its visionary leadership in funding a pediatric component for the Cardiovascular Innovation Institute," he said. "The grant adds another dimension to the already impressive goals for the institute. With Kosair Charities' help, we will be better equipped to bring treatments for heart disease to the forefront and improve the quality of life for adults and children for generations to come."
The institute will build on the internationally recognized work of UofL and Jewish Hospital surgeons Laman Gray, M.D., Erle Austin, M.D., and Robert Dowling, M.D., Wagner said. The surgeons and their research teams will use their vast experience with cardiac devices -- including research on, and implantation of, the world's first totally implantable artificial heart devices -- to improve the performance of existing devices and develop a new generation of bio-adaptive heart innovations.
"This grant means a great deal to the children of Kentucky," said Austin, a pediatric heart surgeon.
"This has the potential to give kids more treatment options and a better quality of life. The research work we will be able to do now will give many of them a future they might not otherwise have."
The institute's physical plant -- a new structure that is slated to open in 2006 -- will bring together biologists, cardiologists, engineers, physiologists and surgeons to work together in one place.
It will house research labs, fabrication facilities, operating rooms, recovery rooms, diagnostic equipment, training facilities, medical imaging areas and mock circulation labs, officials said.
In addition to Kosair Charities' support, funding for the Cardiovascular Innovation Institute includes $15 million from Jewish Hospital and $5 million from the Kentucky Office for the New Economy. Sen. Mitch McConnell secured $6.2 million in federal grants and appropriations to fund the facility's state-of-the-art equipment.
