PHILANTHROPY DIGEST

2021 PHILANTHROPY DIGEST

Dr. Mark J. Hausknecht Matching Challenge

The Dr. Mark J. Hausknecht Matching Challenge was established in 2018. It created the Mary A. and M. Samuel Daffin, Sr. Centennial Chair in Anesthesia and Critical Care held by Dr. Faisal N. Masud; the Research, Education and Innovation Fund in Interventional Structural Heart Disease with Dr. William A. Zoghbi as custodian; and the Cardiovascular Telemedicine Service with Dr. Stuart James Corr as custodian. The challenge met its goal at the end of 2021.

The Allison Family Pumps and Pipes Endowment

The Carolyn J. and Robert J. Allison, Jr. Family Foundation established The Allison Family Pumps and Pipes Endowment in the Houston Methodist DeBakey Heart & Vascular Center. The endowment will support the Pumps and Pipes program contributing toward the creation of an ongoing seminar and/or lecture series.

Houston Alzheimer’s Study

Houston Methodist leads the Houston Alzheimer’s Study, an in-depth study in which researchers screen 400 patients who represent various stages of dementia and Alzheimer’s, as well as family members who do not show signs of the disease. The results will provide the worldwide scientific community with direction for developing future therapies that diagnose, treat and prevent the wide variety of underlying pathologies involved in memory disorders. The generous challenge fund, established by Jeanne and Joe Bob Perkins in 2019 along with 16 additional philanthropists (13 of whom are founding members), bolstered the $5 million study.

John S. Dunn Clinician Innovator Award

The Dunn Foundation Board established the John S. Dunn Clinician Innovator Award for Dr. Michael Klebuc to provide protected time and seed funding for Dr. Klebuc to conduct clinical trials that transform the quality of life for patients. The gift helped Houston Methodist further serve as a national destination for patients who require complex reconstructive surgery. In addition, the John S. Dunn Clinician Innovator Award assisted Dr. Klebuc and his colleagues to discover additional new treatments that patients desperately need.

Kleberg Foundation

The Robert J. Kleberg, Jr. and Helen C. Kleberg Foundation provided generous support toward a new health service educational initiative titled “RECALL-SONIC: Recognition of Emerging Conditions Learning Lab with Schools of Nursing Inter-University Consortium.” The initiative created a partnership between Houston Methodist and Texas A&M University to bring state-of-the-art medical education to nursing students who are training in rural areas. The initiative’s goal is to greatly improve health outcomes for residents of Kleberg County and surrounding counties.

Mosaic Replica at Houston Methodist The Woodlands

Houston Methodist remains steadfast in its commitment to leading medicine through a faithbased approach. An initiative to install a replica of The Extending Arms of Christ mosaic in each community and continuing care hospital began in 2019. The first replica was installed at the Houston Methodist Willowbrook Hospital in 2020. Houston Methodist The Woodlands Hospital installed its replica in 2021 due to the support of several generous benefactors: The Woodlands Methodist Church, John Cook and Family, Rod and Karen Leis, and Ann and Jerry Snyder.

New PLC Groups

The President’s Leadership Council (PLC) consists of community leaders who serve as advocates and champions for Houston Methodist and its executives, physicians and scientists. PLC members provide important insights and perspectives to help inform and improve the hospital’s services. These private sector leaders help advance clinical care, translational research and medical education. New PLC groups in 2021 are: • Advancing Nursing Excellence Council, chaired by Emily Crosswell • Reconstructive Surgery Task Force, chaired by Claudia Contreras • Spiritual Care Task Force • Women’s Health Task Force, chaired by Marcy Margolis and Leslie Margolis

See page 58 for the listing of PLC members.

Center for Performing Arts Medicine

The Center for Performance Arts Medicine commemorated 25 years of service with a series of engaging virtual events. Over 100 guests enjoyed discussions on the latest research and treatments through the arts.

Nantz National Alzheimer Center 10th Anniversary

Jim Nantz, founder of the Nantz National Alzheimer Center and CBS Sports commentator, along with Drs. Marc Boom, Stanley Appel, Joseph Masdeu, Gustavo Roman and Alireza Faridar, hosted a virtual event to over 200 guests commemorating the NNAC’s accomplishments over the past 10 years. The panel of physicians discussed the Houston Alzheimer’s Study and the journey to eradicate the suffering and devastation caused by Alzheimer’s disease and other memory disorders.

Joann and Michael M. Cone Scholars

An endowed fund at Houston Methodist, the Joann and Michael M. Cone Scholars in Surgical Innovation, is supporting graduate student research projects focusing on surgical innovation. This competitive award is available to medical, PhD and EnMed (Engineering/Medicine) students at Houston Methodist who are working in partnership with scientists and clinicians from the Department of Surgery or other areas of the hospital or the Academic Institute. The Cone Scholars receive financial awards to support the development of their projects. Cone Scholar Ather Adnan is working in partnership with Dr. Diego Martin on MRI studies to identify imaging biomarkers that may be associated with differences in histopathological features of intraabdominal tumors. Cone Scholar Ashmi Patel is working with Dr. Raj Satkunasivam, also on MRI studies, to understand if fluorescent dye can be used during bladder surgery to detect the tumor margins and any malignancy in neighboring lymph nodes.

EnMed Innovation Symposium

The Craig C. Brown and Suzanne H. Smith Engineering Medicine (EnMed) program, an innovative engineering medicine track with Texas A&M University at Houston Methodist Hospital, awarded five “physicianeers” the Brown, Smith & Raymond EnMed Capstone Innovator Awards. Through a highly competitive process, students’ ideas are reviewed by a committee composed of EnMed faculty and leaders from the Houston Methodist Academic Institute. The selected ideas exhibit strong potential to attract health care research and funding, as well as create new companies and jobs.