Surviving and thriving
Two newly endowed chairs honor dedicated physicians
Dolly Hansen, MD, spent 30 years at Children's Hospital Boston teaching the intricacies of pediatric anesthesia to other physicians while studying the link between anesthesia and successful surgery to repair congenital heart defects. That tradition will continue with Peter Laussen, MBBS, director of the Cardiac Intensive Care Unit, who is the first physician named to the newly funded Dolly D. Hansen Chair in Pediatric Anesthesia.
"Surgery to correct congenital heart defects is no longer simply about helping children survive; it's about helping them live as full a life as possible," says Laussen. "Ten years ago, successful outcomes following the surgical repair of complex heart defects were measured primarily by early hospital survival. That is no longer an appropriate outcome indicator. Through research such as Dolly's, we can offer most of these children so much more than survival alone."
According to Laussen, Hansen's groundbreaking research on the link between anesthesia, the stress response and clinical outcomes was "an important contributing factor" in a series of developments that changed the surgical mortality rate for congenital heart defects from about 10 percent in the late 1980s to about one percent today. In addition, Hansen's role as a mentor and teacher in the specialized field of pediatric cardiac anesthesia inspired many physicians and scientists.
With support from the fund named for his mentor, Laussen intends to model her commitment to children through patient care and research. For example, he will research the long-term effects of altering the depth and duration of anesthesia in infants during surgery and recovery. He also plans broader efforts to attract the best and brightest clinicians and scientists, and to support them throughout their training.
Endowed professorships, such as the one supporting Laussen's goals, are an important part of the Children's Cause for Wonder campaign because they provide financial resources to sustain aggressive research, medical training and compassionate patient care in perpetuity. Another new endowment, the Mary Deming Scott Chair in Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics, also promises ongoing support.
Mary Deming Scott, MD, has been a practicing pediatrician and pediatric endocrinologist serving Children's and the community for 30 years. She is known for her superb, compassionate care, her commitment to improving the lives of her patients and her love of children.
Leonard Rappaport, MD, MS, associate chief of the Division of General Pediatrics and director of the Developmental Medicine Center, is the Scott professorship's first incumbent. He explains that developmental issues include rare but serious problems, like autism and William's syndrome, and more common but less serious problems, like attention deficits and learning disorders.
"We've been moving 120 miles an hour," says Rappaport. "Now, thanks to the endowment, we can stabilize the clinical unit and focus on strengthening training and research endeavors." With these new research efforts, Rappaport hopes to collaborate with basic science laboratories at Children's and around Boston. "We have an incredible clinical staff and a patient population that is extremely motivated to participate in research that will benefit other children with developmental and behavioral problems," he says.
Through research into the root causes and pathways of developmental disorders, Rappaport hopes to find more effective treatments, and perhaps insight into the causes, treatment and cure of the developmental problems of the children he and others in the Developmental Medicine Center care for each day. "With philanthropic support, we can advance the care of these children and their families and significantly enhance their quality of life," says Rappaport. "We need the generosity of our donors to turn state-of-the-art care into state-of-the-art cure."
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Children's Hospital Boston is in the early stage of a comprehensive fund-raising campaign, with a working goal of $200 million. Over the next five years, Cause for Wonder, the campaign for Children's Hospital Boston, will help generate enthusiasm for the hospital's broad plans to advance its vital mission on behalf of pediatric patients, and offer meaningful opportunities for donors to help in new and exciting ways.
The wonder each child inspires in the staff at Children's, and the awe the institution's scientists and world-class clinicians evoke in grateful family members, is the spirit of this ambitious campaign. Charitable gifts to the Cause for Wonder campaign create new opportunities to care for more children who need the best that medical science can provide, and will accelerate the translation of laboratory research into novel treatments for diseases. Campaign contributions will also help Children's train tomorrow's pediatric leaders and bring care and services to children in our urban communities.
Please join us in this historic and wondrous endeavor. To learn more about opportunities for campaign giving, please call the Children's Hospital Trust at (617) 355-6890 or e-mail info@chtrust.org.
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Every gift to Children's Hospital Boston benefits patients and families who need healing and hope. Through patient care, laboratory research, graduate medical education and community outreach, the staff at Children's work to bring health to children everywhere-toward a future when illness and injury will not get in the way of a child's dreams.
Your generosity helps bring the chance of a healthy future to every child by keeping Children's Hospital Boston the country's number one pediatric hospital.
