Championing the Hearts of Children

Not far from the construction site for the new University of Michigan C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital and Women’s Hospital, another Mott building project recently took place, albeit on a much smaller scale.

Known as the Mott Storybook Cottage project, the 90-square-foot playhouse includes a complete kitchen, a furnished dining room and living room with faux fireplace, as well as natural outdoor landscaping. In true community spirit, all building materials and services were donated by local businesses specializing in construction and architectural and interior design.

The cottage was built for auction during the May 17-18 Champions for Children’s Hearts celebrity golf tournament, hosted by the NFL’s Brian Griese and Steve Hutchinson — both U-M alumni. Guests at a gala dinner during the event heard Shannan and John Shaw, a U-M associate professor in aerospace engineering, speak about the exceptional care their 4-year-old daughter, Maddie, was receiving at Mott Children’s Hospital. Maddie had been waiting nearly 16 months in the cardiac intensive care unit at Mott for a new heart to replace her own which, doctors believe, was attacked by a viral infection that caused it to enlarge and weaken.

Inspired by the Shaws and challenged by Griese and Hutchinson to match their own gifts of $1,000 each in order to keep the cottage at Mott, many guests contributed $1,000 to catch a signed-football pass from Griese, quarterback for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. A total of $67,000 was raised in this way to purchase the cottage for Mott.

Just a week later, on May 27, little Maddie Shaw died while still waiting for her new heart. Though she was never an organ recipient herself, Maddie’s liver and kidneys were donated by the Shaw family to help save the lives of other children. In her memory, the cottage will be named Maddie’s Storybook Cottage and will bring delight and distraction to young Mott patients for many years to come.

Athletes for Mott

Brian Griese and Steve Hutchinson, the NFL hosts of May’s Champions for Children’s Hearts celebrity golf tournament, are among many past and former members of Michigan’s Department of Athletics whose whole-hearted and heartfelt commitment is helping the U-M raise awareness and funds needed to build the new Mott facility. From taking to the airwaves for a 12-hour Ann Arbor radio-a-thon, to leading events with that indomitable Go Blue spirit, to personally visiting pediatric patients at their bedsides, Michigan athletes have been a powerful part of the Health System team, working toward the shared goal of health and well-being for children and women. —RK

Recent Gifts to the Health System

Grateful patients of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology have made a $625,000 gift to fund the first five years of the Fellowship in Breast Health for Experienced Obstetrician-Gynecologists. The U-M is committed to sharing its proven model of training future ob-gyns with other practitioners in hope that the multi-disciplinary model will influence and ultimately affect residency and post-residency training requirements, as well as improve outcomes for women with breast disease. Ob-gyns are the primary caregivers for most American women, placing them on the front lines of breast disease diagnosis.

Joshua H. Pokempner and Gretchen Gardner of Ann Arbor are joining Phil Jenkins, also of Ann Arbor, in supporting preventive and alternative medicine at Michigan. With their $500,000 contribution, the Phil F. Jenkins and Joshua H. Pokempner Preventative and Alternative Medicine Endowment Fund will be used to empower, teach and support people in taking control of their wellness through preventive and alternative means. The fund will support the Jenkins/Pokempner Director of Preventive and Alternative Medicine. Pokempner is an alumnus of the College of Architecture and Urban Planning, and Gardner is an alumna of the School of Social Work. —RK

Taking the President’s Challenge

U-M President Mary Sue Coleman’s Scholarship Challenge, which provides a 1-to-2 match for all new graduate/professional scholarship gifts made between September 1, 2007, and December 31, 2008 (or until matching funds are committed), has brought the Medical School approximately $7.5 million in new scholarship funding, including the following named scholarship funds of $5,000 or more:

The Dr. and Mrs. Rudi Ansbacher Scholarship
The David and Linda Bachrach Family Scholarship
The Jill and Thomas R. Berglund, M.D., Endowed Scholarship
The Dr. Edward Berkwits and Berkwits Family Endowed Scholarship
The Brehm Medical Scholars
The Ernest G. and Audrey Brookfield Scholarship
The Richard L. Carter, M.D., Scholarship
The Craig/Denhart Endowed Scholarship
The Michael H. Freedland, M.D., Scholarship
The Dr. Benjamin Gamburd, ’48, Scholarship
The Fannie and Alegro J. Godley, M.D., Endowed Scholarship
The Dr. Robert T. and Elaine Goldman Scholarship
The Marilynn R. and Seymour Gordon, M.D., Scholarship
The Marvin Gordon, M.D., and Sylvia Gordon Scholarship
The Robert D. and Maxine B. Greenberg Scholarship
The Dr. Gordon and Mrs. Sharon Hassing Scholarship
The James C. Hays, M.D., Endowed Medical Scholarship
The H. Richard Henderson and Norma Henderson Scholarship
The Dr. and Mrs. Stephen E. Higgins Family Scholarship
The Dr. Sheryl Hirsch and Dr. John Billi Scholarship
The Jerome P. Horwitz, Ph.D., Endowed Scholarship
The Kenneth Jamerson/Fitzbutler Jones Scholarship
The Trina and Michael Johns Endowed Scholarship
The Kelch-Parker Medical School Scholarship
The Kheterpal Family Endowed Scholarship
The Cassandra M. Klyman, M.D., Scholarship
The Sylvia M. Kosciolek, M.D., Scholarship
The Arnold A. Lee, M.D., Scholarship
The Inel Lewis/Fitzbutler Jones Society Endowed Scholarship
The Ka-Shui Lo, M.D., Scholarship
The Jacquelyn G. Lockhart-Crew, M.D., Scholarship
The Lloyd A. Marks, M.D., and Janice Siegel Foundation Inc. Scholarship
The Dr. Phil L. Marsh Memorial Endowed Scholarship
The Dr. and Mrs. Donald A. Meier Scholarship
The Joe Luther Menger Medical School Scholarship
The Kenneth D. McClatchey, M.D., Endowed Scholarship
The William E. and Marian D. Pearson Memorial Endowed Scholarship
The Margaret B. Pittman-Hadley Endowed Scholarship
The Dr. Jack F. Ross Scholarship
The Saltman Family Scholarship
The George W. Schnetzer III, M.D., and Mary H. Lhevine Endowed Scholarship
The Oscar D. Schwartz, M.D., Scholarship
The Marshal Shlafer, Ph.D., Scholarship
The Kenneth J. Sobeski Scholarship
The Stalburg Student Scholarship
The Trunsky/Buckfire Endowed Scholarship
The Gail and Floyd S. Tukel, M.D., Family Endowed Scholarship
The Thomas G. and Marilynn Varbedian Family Endowed Scholarship
The Karen Ann Welke Scholarship
The Dale L. Williams, M.D., Family Medicine Scholarship
The Dr. Richard and Virginia Wineland Scholarship
The Woolliscroft Family Scholarship

View a film about the power of scholarship

Professorships Recently Inaugurated

The family of Marilyn H. “Molly” Vincent established the Marilyn H. Vincent Professorship in Diabetes Research to help battle a disease which affected her, as well as son Burt Vincent Jr. Burt Jr. and brother, John Vincent, are trustees of the Molly Vincent Foundation, which was formed in 1996 to support diabetes research. On March 24, Associate Professor of Internal Medicine and Molecular and Integrative Physiology Martin G. Myers Jr., M.D., Ph.D., was installed as the first Vincent Professor.

The U-M’s commitment to cardiovascular medicine was celebrated May 28 with the inauguration of the Cyrus and Jane Farrehi Professorship in Cardiovascular Research and the Frank Norman Wilson Professorship in Cardiovascular Medicine. A gift from Cyrus Farrehi, M.D., and his wife, Jane, created the Farrehi Professorship, which was awarded to Professor of Internal Medicine and Molecular and Integrative Physiology José Jalife, M.D. The Wilson Professorship, named for the U-M’s first modern cardiologist and an alumnus of the school (M.D. 1913), went to Mario Delmar, M.D., Ph.D., also a professor of internal medicine and molecular and integrative physiology. Jalife and Delmar are co-directors of the U-M Center for Arrhythmia Research.

A longtime benefactor of medicine at Michigan, including support in the areas of cancer, pediatrics and depression, the Ravitz Foundation has established its second professorship in the Medical School. On June 4, the Ravitz Foundation Professorship in Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences was inaugurated to promote the research and clinical efforts of a faculty member whose work focuses on ophthalmic pathology. Professor of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences and of Pathology Victor M. Elner, M.D., Ph.D., is the first to hold the professorship.

More than a quarter-century of service to the Medical School and Department of Pathology was celebrated June 11 with the inauguration of the Peter A. Ward Professorship in Pathology. A tribute to a continuing leader in academic pathology and a former interim dean of the Medical School, the Ward Professorship was bestowed upon Kathleen R. Cho, M.D., Ward’s colleague in the department and a professor of pathology and of internal medicine. —KB