Impact Report Invest. Innovate. Transform.
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AN INVESTMENT THAT MAKES AN IMPACT Innovation is essential to fulfilling Phoenix Children’s mission of providing hope, healing and the best health care for children and their families—and Leadership Circle funding is essential to driving innovation. From a dyslexia screening tool for pediatricians to research that’s providing new insight into neurotrauma, Leadership Circle support is accelerating advancements in pediatric medicine.
CHAMPIONS OF INNOVATION Leadership Circle is a giving group whose members jointly invest in cutting-edge, high-impact projects led by Phoenix Children’s physicians and researchers. Each year, members’ gifts are pooled to form a grant fund, and staff from across Phoenix Children’s apply for grants to support their work. After the proposed projects are vetted and finalists are selected, the proposals are presented at an annual luncheon where members vote on which projects to fund.
“Having three young children, we have learned nothing is worse than seeing your child in pain or unwell. We feel particularly drawn to supporting Leadership Circle to help ensure that every child has access to the best medical care available. Innovation is key to this, and we love being a part of a group that has come together to fund promising projects that can truly change the world of pediatrics as we know it.” Brittany and Matt Messmer, Leadership Circle Directors
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SHAPING THE FUTURE OF PEDIATRIC MEDICINE For nearly 20 years, Leadership Circle funding has been the engine of innovation at Phoenix Children’s, allowing the hospital’s best and brightest minds to turn their visionary ideas into reality. Leadership Circle funding has launched scores of game-changing initiatives and programs that have reached nearly every patient and family at the hospital. But Leadership Circle’s impact isn’t limited to Phoenix Children’s. The innovations pioneered here will benefit children around the world for generations.
2004
YEAR FOUNDED
86
PROJECTS FUNDED
$6M
IN FUNDING AWARDED
Areas that have received funding include:
REHABILITATION SERVICES 4 projects $381,788
RADIOLOGY DEPARTMENT 7 projects $663,890
HEART CENTER 10 projects $669,745
BARROW NEUROLOGICAL INSTITUTE AT PHOENIX CHILDREN’S 17 projects $1,125,475
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LEADERSHIP CIRCLE INVESTMENT IN ACTION CELEBRATING SUCCESS: COMPLETED PROJECTS From improving patient care to pioneering new technologies, projects supported by Leadership Circle are transforming the way pediatric medicine is practiced. Completed projects include:
ALS Base Hospital: Helping First Responders Care for Children In 2016, Phoenix Children’s Emergency Department used a Leadership Circle grant to purchase the communications equipment necessary for the hospital to be certified as an advanced life support (ALS) base hospital—a centralized communications center that provides medical direction to emergency medical services (EMS) providers in the field. As the only children’s hospital in Arizona with this designation, Phoenix Children’s is responsible for advising EMS providers on the treatment of pediatric patients. The expert guidance of the pediatric emergency medicine specialists at Phoenix Children’s helps ensure that children get the best possible care at the scene and on the way to the hospital. Phoenix Children’s also contracts with EMS agencies to provide pediatric-specific education and training, giving EMS providers the expertise needed to deliver the highest level of pediatric care.
WATCHER: Using Data to Save Lives Phoenix Children’s Quality and Safety Team received a Leadership Circle grant in 2017 to develop a data-driven patient-monitoring tool. In early 2021, the project came to fruition with the launch of the WATCHER program. WATCHER, which has been implemented in all inpatient medical surgical units, uses clinical data from a patient’s electronic medical record to detect subtle changes in the patient’s condition. If the data indicate that the patient is at risk of deteriorating, an alert is sent to the bedside nurse, who brings together the clinical team to evaluate the patient and create a care plan. Since Phoenix Children’s began using WATCHER, clinical teams have responded to hundreds of alerts. The program has empowered staff to work collaboratively to identify at-risk patients and intervene early, whether by initiating treatment or by transferring them to a higher level of care.
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Miniscopes: Opening New Windows for Neuroscience Researchers A 2018 Leadership Circle grant provided funding for research scientist Jonathan Lifshitz, PhD, of the Barrow Neurological Institute at Phoenix Children’s, to develop the novel technology of miniscopes.
Lifshitz and his team found that by using miniscopes, they were able to get faster results with fewer mice. To help other researchers take advantage of this new technology, the team has published a paper outlining protocols for using miniscopes to test new drugs.
Lifshitz, his research analyst Daniel Griffiths and their team first used miniscopes—miniature microscopes the size of thimbles—in a study with Barrow to test a new drug for treating cerebral stroke. They attached miniscopes to the brains of mice, then administered the drug to observe how it was delivered into the brain. The results accelerated the determination of the drug dosage and timing that would produce the best results.
LOOKING TO THE FUTURE: 2021 GRANT RECIPIENTS
Fetal Cardiac Imaging: A 21st Century Solution
In a year that presented myriad new challenges, innovation was more important than ever at Phoenix Children’s. At the 2021 annual luncheon, grants were awarded to four projects.
Diagnosing complex heart defects in utero by developing software that can be used with MRI technology to provide reliable images of the fetal heart.
Dyslexia Screening Questionnaire Carla Allan, MD
Facilitating early diagnosis and treatment of dyslexia by validating a screening questionnaire that can be completed by parents at children’s 6-year-old wellchild visits.
Equipment and Supplies to Evaluate How Sex Hormones Influence Brain Function
Luis F. Goncalves, MD
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder in Bone Marrow Transplant Patients and Their Families Cady Berkel, PhD, and Emma Ross-Khatami, PhD
Helping bone marrow transplant patients and their families get timely treatment for PTSD by developing a system to monitor them for PTSD symptoms.
Theresa Currier Thomas, PhD
Improving quality of care for girls and women by exploring how neurotransmission differs in males and females before and after traumatic brain injuries.
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TAKING INNOVATION TO THE NEXT LEVEL Innovators are a select group of Leadership Circle members who invest in innovation at the highest level, making an annual gift of $10,000 or more. Investment at the Innovator level comes with exclusive benefits, including: • Preferred seating at the annual luncheon • Special behind-the-scenes experiences with physicians, researchers and patients • Year-round opportunities to fund promising projects at quarterly Power Pitch events
Power Pitch: Innovation Can’t Wait
“Phoenix Children’s continues to be a leader in cutting-edge medical care. A Leadership Circle membership at the Innovator level not only allows us to fund research and treatment projects, but it also allows us to vote on how the money is allocated. This gives us great joy knowing that we are contributing to easing the suffering of children in our own community.” –DeeDee and Ken Vecchione, Leadership Circle Directors
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Power Pitch is an exclusive opportunity for Innovator members to fund projects outside of the regular Leadership Circle grant cycle. At these quarterly events, Innovators hear pitches for projects that have been specially selected by Phoenix Children’s Chief Innovation Officer David Higginson for immediate consideration. Support for these projects comes from a percentage of Innovator gifts set aside from general Leadership Circle funds. At the inaugural Power Pitch event in October 2021, Innovator members awarded funding to two projects: • Patient Room E-Signage: An e-signage system will display real-time information from the electronic medical record outside patient rooms, facilitating communication among Phoenix Children’s staff. • 3D-Assisted Surgery: With the aid of Microsoft HoloLens, an augmented reality headset, surgeons will be able to visualize a 3D version of a patient’s heart or spine during surgery.
Renew your membership or join now at PCHLC.org. INVEST IN INNOVATION WITH LEADERSHIP CIRCLE Your support helps accelerate advancements in pediatric medicine that will benefit children for generations to come. Become a champion of innovation at Phoenix Children’s by joining Leadership Circle today.
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2022 Directors Clarissa and Brian Robinson, Chairs Corinne and Darryl Berger Julia and Taylor Burke Carol and Dr. Charles P. Dries, Jr. Brittany and Matt Messmer DeeDee and Ken Vecchione Paula and Bill Wichterman
PHOENIX CHILDREN’S FOUNDATION 2929 E. Camelback Road #122 | Phoenix, AZ 85016 | PCHLC.org