In MeMorIaM - Texas Heart Institute
In MeMorIaM - Texas Heart Institute
In MeMorIaM - Texas Heart Institute
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Partners in Helping Young People<br />
Rich and Nancy Kinder<br />
From left, THI President Dr. James T. Willerson, boxing great George Foreman, Nancy Kinder of the Kinder Foundation, Houston <strong>In</strong>dependent School<br />
District Superintendent Terry Grier and Dr. Paolo Angelini were all on hand for the rollout of the Mobile Imaging Unit at Welch Middle School,<br />
where students were among the first to be screened for heart abnormalities.<br />
ouston philanthropists Rich and Nancy Kinder, through their Kinder<br />
Foundation, have the hearts of many young people on their minds. That’s<br />
why they have thrown their whole-hearted support behind a new <strong>Texas</strong><br />
<strong>Heart</strong> <strong>In</strong>stitute effort to prevent Sudden Cardiac Death (SCD) in youths.<br />
Mrs. Kinder brought along the star power<br />
of famous athletes, including former boxing<br />
champ George Foreman, when the program<br />
was launched last fall.<br />
Through the Kinder Outreach Program,<br />
THI’s Center for Coronary Artery Anomalies<br />
(CCAA) is taking its Mobile Imaging Unit on<br />
the road to Houston area schools as part of a<br />
groundbreaking research program that involves<br />
voluntary screenings of 10,000 middle school<br />
students for certain difficult-to-detect, congenital<br />
heart abnormalities.<br />
These conditions are thought to predispose<br />
young people to SCD (Sudden Cardiac Death),<br />
and the Kinders recognize that too often tragedy<br />
grabs headlines, especially when young athletes<br />
are stricken without warning during sports<br />
competitions or training.<br />
To date, we’ve screened more than 500<br />
students and it is a partnership of which we are<br />
extremely proud.<br />
“Rich and I are delighted to support a great<br />
organization like the <strong>Texas</strong> <strong>Heart</strong> <strong>In</strong>stitute in<br />
tackling a serious medical problem that exists in<br />
our community and throughout America,” said<br />
Mrs. Kinder at the launch of the program. “We<br />
hope this effort will pay long-term dividends in<br />
improving the health of our students over the<br />
coming years.”<br />
As George Foreman said, the Kinders are<br />
the kind of supporters we want in our corner.<br />
You can learn more about the program itself<br />
and see a short video with basketball great<br />
Hakeem Olajuwon participating in the program<br />
at www.texasheart.org/Research/CCAA/<br />
index.cfm<br />
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