|
Palm Beach Philanthropists, Heart Disease Survivor
Donate $5 Million for Women’s Heart Focused Research Center
Palm Beach, May 19, 2015 -
The American Heart Association announced today a $5 million
donation from Sarah (Sally) Ross Soter and her husband,
Bill. The donation will fund the Sarah Ross Soter Center
for Women’s Cardiovascular Research. It is the inaugural
gift to the American Heart Association’s new Go Red For
Women Research Network which will unite elite research
institutions across the country to focus efforts around
improved health outcomes specific to women.
Soter, an active community volunteer who’s passionate about
improving healthcare for women by accelerating science,
hopes her gift will “mean so much for research.” The
American Heart Association funds more heart and stroke
research than any organization outside the U.S. government.
“The American Heart Association is so grateful for Sally’s
commitment to improving women’s heart health and to
correcting the disparities that so many women face when it
comes to accessing the care they deserve,” American Heart
Association CEO Nancy Brown said. “We are eager for this
important new research to begin, and for the improvements
that will follow in prevention, treatment and care for all
women.”
Years ago, when Soter was diagnosed with atrial
fibrillation, a condition that causes an irregular
heartbeat, she told her doctor she was determined to conquer
heart disease — and help other women facing it too. This
gift will provide research specifically related to women and
heart disease while raising awareness on how women can make
constructive changes in their heart health.
“To be able to fund something that could help
women and heart disease is very rewarding,” said Soter.
“There’s so much we still don’t know and I believe the
American Heart Association has developed an approach that
will help answer some of the unknowns.”
Research continues
to show differences in heart disease among women and men,
and gaps
remain in
how to best diagnose, treat and prevent it. These gaps mean
a lack of information about whether women react differently
to heart disease, if diagnostic methods work differently
based on gender, and if women respond differently to
treatment. An estimated 43 million women in the U.S. are
affected by heart disease.
Soter’s vision for eradicating heart disease in
women and her dedication to the association’s mission
stretches beyond this most recent gift. She established the
first-ever endowed chair exclusively for women’s heart
health at Ohio State University Medical Center.
Soter is also the founding funder for the American Heart
Association’s Teaching
Gardens ,
which funds gardens in half a dozen schools in Palm Beach
County, Florida.
The Sarah Ross Soter Center for Women’s Cardiovascular
Research will
be one of the four to five American Heart Association
research centers within the Go Red For Women Research
Network. The institutions making up each Center will be
selected in early 2016.
###
The American Heart Association is devoted to
saving people from heart disease and stroke – America’s No.
1 and No. 5 killers. We team with millions of volunteers to
fund innovative research, fight for stronger public health
policies,
and provide lifesaving tools and information to prevent and
treat these diseases. The Dallas-based association is the
nation’s oldest and largest voluntary organization dedicated
to fighting heart disease and stroke. To learn more or to
get involved, call 1-800-AHA-USA1,
visit heart.org or call any of our offices around the
country. Follow us on Facebook andTwitter.
|