What is the Evergreen Endowment Fund?
Established in 1985 to generate funds received
from Festival of Trees, the Evergreen Endowment
provides financial support for pediatric
research. The Evergreen Endowment has grown to
more than $10 million to date.
1) “Relation of Oxidative Stress Responses
to Anthracycline-Induced Cardiomyopathy” by
Dr. Tom L’Ecuyer, Associate, Cardiology.
Anthracyclines are effective drugs for the
treatment of childhood cancer. The main side
effect of these agents that limits their
clinical use is toxicity to the heart, which can
produce heart failure that can cause death or
the need for cardiac transplantation. The
condition is caused by oxidative stress that is
generated by the drug. Extensive research has
failed to identify effective treatments for this
condition. Individual children differ in their
risk for cardiac toxicity after anthracycline
treatment, but it is not currently possible to
predict the risk for an individual. This is an
important clinical objective, since
identification of those at risk might allow
alternative treatments to be pursued to prevent
cardiac toxicity. Dr. L’Ecuyer will work in
conjunction with Cardiology, Pharmacology and
Hematology/Oncology Department staff.
(2006-2008)
2) “Prospective Evaluation of
Interventional and Surgical Procedures in
Patients with Congenital Heart Disease: A
Multi-Center Study Utilizing the Congenital
Cardiovascular Interventional Study Consortium (CCISC)”
by Dr. Tom Forbes, Director Cardiac
Catheterization Lab. Interventional
catheterization in heart disease is a science
that is driven by the development of new
technology. Because of the relative infrequency
of congenital heart disease in the general
population, interventional catheterization is
performed on a relatively small group of
patients within any one geographical area. This
leads to individual institutions publishing and
developing treatment recommendations based on
the study of relatively few patients. The CCISC
is a group of 42 participating congenital heart
centers where interventional cardiac
catheterization and surgery are performed. The
mission of CCISC is to combine data from many
institutions so that a large group of patients
may be used to 1) study outcomes and 2) compare
the results of interventional catheterization
procedures to the results of older, more
conventional surgical techniques. CCISC,
located at CHM, will be the center of the
largest congenital heart consortium in the
world, with participating hospitals from North
America and Europe. (2006-2008)
3) “Children’s Hospital of Michigan Gene
Bank Core Research Facility” Dr. Virginia
Delaney-Black, Assistant Director CRCM and Dr.
Ahm Huq, Assistant Professor of Pediatrics and
Neurology, along with the Scientific Advisory
Group. The overarching goal of this core will
be to find the genetic determinants of pediatric
health, disease and responses to lifestyle and
treatment. This gene bank core research
facility aims to create the gene bank –
biomaterial including DNA, tissue and clinical
and family data from healthy and diseased
children will be collected and archived. It
will also facilitate research into genetic and
non-genetic determinants of health and disease
across ethnic and racial groups. The Gene Bank
will also provide a service to research groups
at CHM and throughout the world in the future.
Many of the children’s most devastating
disorders, including asthma, heart disease,
cancer, diabetes and epilepsy are caused by
complex interactions between genes, environment
and lifestyle. Once we understand the genetic
bases of various diseases and the genetic
differences between individuals that may affect
their responses, it may become possible for a
clinician to prescribe drugs or other treatments
designed specifically for children’s own genetic
make-up. This Gene Bank will be the only one
dedicated to pediatrics in the world. (2006 –
2007)
“Computer-Assisted Robot-Enhanced Surgery in Infants and Children"
by Dr. Michael Klein, Surgeon-in-Chief, Dr.
Scott Langenburg, Director. (2002 – 2005)
“Pediatric Motion Analysis" by Dr. Ed Dabrowski.,
Chief, Division of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation
“Gene Therapy for Chemotherapy-Induced Heart
Failure” by Dr. Thomas L’Ecuyer,
Cardiologist, and Dr. Richard S. Vander Heide,
Pathologist.
“Reducing Perinatal Brain Injury by Brain
Cooling ” by Dr. Seetha Shankaran, Director
of Neonatal and Perinatal Medicine.
“New Treatments for Paralysis” by Dr.
William Lyman, Director of the Children’s
Research Center of Michigan
“Gene Therapy for Spinal Muscular Atrophy and
Related Neuromuscular Diseases” by Dr. Gyula
Acsadi, Co-Director MDA Clinic, Neurology
Clinical Instructor.
“Positron Emmission Tomography Center.”
by Dr. Harry Chugani, Chief, Division of
Pediatric Neurology (1992 – 1997)
“Metabolism and Critically Ill Children.”
by Dr. Kathleen Meert (1990 – 1992)
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