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DONORS IMPACT PROGRAM FOR SERIOUS HEART DISEASE
When their 16-year-old son John Babbitt fatally collapsed while playing basketball, David and JoAnne Babbitt went into shock. After the autopsy, they learned he had hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM), a complex, genetic heart disease that occurs in approximately one in 500 individuals. HCM is also the leading cause of sudden cardiac death in young athletes under the age of 30. In 2014, eight years after the Babbitts’ tragic loss, Morristown Medical Center opened its doors to the Chanin T. Mast Center for Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy at Gagnon Cardiovascular Institute with support from a $1 million gift from the Adam R. and Chanin T. Mast Foundation. Robert and Terry Mast lost their daughter Chanin Mast to HCM in 1999 and seeded the center to help raise community awareness about the condition as well as provide access to top-tier medical treatments nearby.
Because the mission of our foundation aligned so much with the Chanin T. Mast Center, we feel we can be much more effective through collaborations like this with like-minded organizations in our community.
–David Babbitt
The Chanin T. Mast Center for HCM has made considerable advances in diagnostics and treatment under the leadership of co-directors Matthew Martinez, MD, and Martin Maron, MD. In the past two years, the program has also significantly expanded thanks to a loyal community of donors, including:
John Taylor Babbitt Foundation Ken and Eileen Berkowitz Gar-Wood Burwell The Davino Family Foundation Jonathan Dietz Mark and Shari Newman Nick and Lori Rizzo Jonathan and Stacey Seligson Philanthropy is crucial to the overall success of the Chanin T. Mast Center for HCM and has enhanced patient care, supported research studies, facilitated community outreach and funded educational events. An HCM Fellowship Program — the first in the country — began in July 2022. Philanthropy from Jonathan and Stacey Seligson will fund its first two years. In 2021, the John Taylor Babbitt Foundation made a generous donation to fund a virtual lecture, “COVID-19 Virus, Vaccine and the Heart: How to Safely Return to Youth and Competitive Sports,” led by Dr. Martinez, who also serves as director of Atlantic Health System Sports Cardiology for Morristown Medical Center.
The late John Babbitt playing soccer.
To support the Chanin T. Mast Center for Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy at Gagnon Cardiovascular Institute, contact Susan Johns, foundation officer, at:
973-593-2413
susan.johns@atlantichealth.org
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Matthew Martinez, MD, Co-director of the Chanin T. Mast Center for Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy
PHILANTHROPY IS CHANGING LIVES AT THE CHILD DEVELOPMENT AND AUTISM CENTER
Kelly May, PhD, BCBA-D, Behavioral Health Clinician for the Child W hen Waira and Eric Chard found out their daughter Eden had autism, the West Milford couple didn’t know where to turn. The Chards found answers Development and Autism Center at Goryeb Children’s Hospital to many of their questions and the expert care they needed for Eden at the Child Development and Autism Center at Goryeb Children’s Hospital, where philanthropy has impacted the program’s scope and breadth for almost a decade. The center has served triple the number of patients it did when it opened almost seven years ago, thanks to generous gifts from donors and, most recently, from the Brueckner Family Foundation, Jackie and Larry Horn, Andrew Markey and the Summit Foundation.
When the couple met Kelly May, PhD, BCBA-D, who became Eden’s applied behavior analysis (ABA) therapist, they quickly recognized that Dr. May had the tools and expertise to help Eden advance through her challenges.
Kelly was our advocate from day one; she gave us direction, told us what worked and what didn't as far as therapies, and helped us navigate placing Eden in the right school for her needs.
–Waira Chard
The latest numbers from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimate that autism has risen to one in every 54 births in the U.S., and New Jersey has one of the highest rates of diagnoses in the country: One in every 35 births. “Increased rates of children with autism and other developmental disabilities, combined with a continued decline in the number of clinicians who treat these conditions, have left families and children waiting months to years for access to care,” said Walter Rosenfeld, MD, chair of pediatrics for Goryeb Children’s Hospital and medical director of children’s health for Atlantic Health System. To serve these increased volumes, Goryeb Children’s Hospital is developing an innovative solution to address these challenges through the new Generalist As Specialist Fellowship for Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics. This comprehensive program will train board-certified pediatricians in the recognition, evaluation and treatment of less severe forms of conditions such as autism and ADHD. These fellowship-trained pediatricians will then join community pediatric or family medicine practices to provide these skills in a primary care setting. To further support this growing community need, donor funding has helped hire eight new team members, including three nurse practitioners and one neurodevelopmental specialist. Creating an autism care navigator position and adding two ABA therapists helps families like the Chards find the services and treatments they desperately need.
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Pictured (left to right): The Chard sisters Devyn (age 9), Eden (age 6) and Julia (age 19) enjoy time together in their backyard in West Milford, NJ. To support the new Generalist As Specialist Fellowship for Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics at the Child Development and Autism Center, contact Gerri Kling, foundation officer, at:
