Donors Endow New Chairs to Advance Pediatric Healthcare
Hogs for the Cause Gives $ 1.1 Million to Create Centralized Cell Bank
Children’ s Hospital Colorado Foundation received a generous $ 1.1 million investment from Hogs for the Cause, a Louisianabased organization that supports families affected by pediatric brain cancer. This gift is enabling Children’ s Colorado to establish a sophisticated centralized cell bank— the Hub of Genetic Specimens( H. O. G. S.) BioBank— to support its nationally ranked Center for Cancer and Blood Disorders( CCBD).
The H. O. G. S. BioBank will centralize pediatric oncology tissue and blood samples that will assist Children’ s Colorado’ s physicianscientists in making critical advances in research for childhood cancers and blood disorders by linking these biospecimens to clinical, treatment and outcomes data.
Children’ s Colorado has one of the largest pediatric cancer and blood disorders programs in the nation, ranked No. 4 in the country by U. S. News & World Report, treating patients from birth into young adulthood. In addition to caring for children with proven treatment protocols, our pediatric faculty are at the forefront of discovering new therapies.
“ This generous gift will not only impact how we care for our patients, but it will also help accelerate research initiatives on our campus and create a
resource for other leading cancer researchers around the world with whom we collaborate,” said Jennifer Roe Darling, President and CEO of Children ' s Hospital Colorado Foundation.
Children’ s Colorado already has one of the largest biobanks of pediatric brain and spinal cord tumor samples in the country. The gift from Hogs for the Cause will further scale and centralize our entire biospecimen collection across different diseases to foster cross-collaborations and interactions that will lead to better treatments and better cures.
“ Children’ s Colorado’ s reach, as well as its leadership in pediatric cancer research, including diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma( DIPG), was a catalyst for this philanthropic partnership,” said Becker Hall, CEO and co-founder of Hogs for the Cause.“ We’ re proud to stand beside families and researchers in the fight against pediatric cancer.”
Donors Endow New Chairs to Advance Pediatric Healthcare
An endowed chair is a generous commitment by a donor that enables the hospital to attract and retain the best specialists in the field of pediatric medicine. A prestigious honor reserved for the most distinguished scientists, clinicians, academics and leaders, an endowed chair recognizes and promotes excellence in pediatric healthcare and signifies the hospital’ s commitment and a donor’ s interest to support that work for the long term. Endowed chairs may be established with a gift of $ 2.5 million or more.
Early Childhood Development William K. Frankenburg Endowed Chair in Pediatrics
Gretchen Domek, MD, MPhil, Inaugural Chairholder
Precision Medicine The Fritz and Betty Knoebel Family Endowed Chair in Precision Medicine
Scott Demarest, MD, Chief Precision Medicine Officer, Inaugural Chairholder
5