VOICESof VELLORE HOLIDAY GIVING New York, NY
vellorecmc.org
Winter 2016
Your Gifts Support Very Important Projects, and Make a Lot of People Very Happy.
Dear Friends of CMC Vellore, Thank you for your faithful support of CMC and the Foundation throughout the year. With your help we continued to direct our attention to projects that benefit CMC faculty, students and physical resources. We adopted two major projects that we have been telling you about all year: Model Villages being designed and equipped in the Jawadhi Hills (a research model to measure deep sustainable change); and a new 1,500-bed Super-Specialty Hospital and Level I Trauma Center in nearby Kannigapuram. We also focused on Research as an area of critical importance to CMC’s continued global presence. Our Research Committee chaired by Dr. Philip “Teeps” Ninan (’69) completed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with CMC one year ago and we made our first $50,000 grant in January. We agreed that the grant should address some of the specific barriers that confront young researchers, and therefore funds are being used to start projects; complete projects; present findings at meetings; and collaborate with fellow scientists. We are thrilled that our grant has gotten students and junior faculty engaged in new research projects. At this time of year we receive nearly half of our annual income! Please give and give generously to help us continue to fuel CMC in this time of growth and change. With gratitude and warm wishes for a peaceful Holiday Season,
Katherine D. Guenther, President Vellore Christian Medical College Foundation
2016 Highlights Supported by Your Generosity RUHSA’s New Outpatient and Emergency Department Head of RUHSA Dr. Rita Isaac (‘76) inaugurated this vital new facility with Council members and visiting dignitaries in June. We are so grateful to have been able to play a meaningful role in seeing this project to completion. You gave over $35,000 to the new Outpatient Department. Working with Residents in the Jawadhi Hills to Bring About Long-Lasting Change CMC’s Community Health & Development (CHAD) Department, in collaboration other CMC departments and NGO’s working in the tribal Jawadhi Hills, brought a strong proposal to the people of four remote villages. Working as conveners, CHAD and partners found strong interest among residents to work communally to set goals and execute some daunting projects. These included building household toilets, providing fresh water and sanitation systems and taking part in numerous educational, community and economic development programs coordinated by CMC. The first Model Village in Koiloor is making great progress, managing success and overcoming the inevitable obstacles that slow things down temporarily. With your gifts we have contributed over $60,000 toward Year I costs. A Level I Trauma Center – the First in South India Along with contributors worldwide the Foundation is just beginning a major effort to raise funds for a new CMC Hospital – a 1500-bed super-specialty facility at Kannigapuram – beginning in 2016. Our primary focus will be the unprecedented Level I Trauma Center that will serve accident victims from around the region. Situated on the highway that connects Chennai and Bangalore, the Trauma Center will immediately play a critical role in saving the lives of previously underserved people. Your gifts already total over $30,000 which have helped offset planning costs. The Dr. Ida B. Scudder Residence for Retired Faculty This new facility has tried the patience of many of you as progress has been stymied by bureaucratic and logistical hurdles. We are very fortunate that Dr. Abraham Joseph (’56) (l) has returned to Vellore and is our “man on the ground” seeing that progress is being made. The Drs. Paul and Margaret Brand New Life Campus (near CHAD) is now available and the site is able to be cleared. An architect has been engaged and the precise specifications for the facility are being finalized. With your support we were able to raise over $425,000 to create this facility. A Third Floor Addition to the Rehabilitation Hospital In recognition of the 50th Anniversary of the Rehabilitation Hospital at CMC (the first in India), a new floor is being added to accommodate patient rooms, group space and some offices. The Foundation was honored to underwrite the commemorative book marking the Anniversary. In addition we have pledged funds to name the new Library being built in the new space. With support of donors going back to early days of Dr. Mary Verghese, $52,000 has been given to this project. First Annual $50,000 Research Grant for Students and Junior Faculty After half a century of stewardship of endowment funds, the Foundation is able to dedicate earnings from permanently restricted gifts for Research, to fund a $50,000-a-year grant for CMC student researchers (r) and junior faculty research projects. The first grant was sent to CMC in January and word is spreading at CMC that there is support for this important level of work.
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2016 Senior Training Fellowships Shanthi Lithiya Johnson, (l) a Lecturer in Psychiatric Nursing, was a Senior Training Fellow at Kansas University Medical Center where she studied evaluation and treatment of older adults with psychiatric illness. Shanti’s plan having returned to the College of Nursing is to establish protocols and policy for geriatric psychiatric patients; train nurses in the Mental Health Center to use these in evaluation and clinical care of geriatric psychiatric patients; establish an awareness program on Alzheimer’s disease; initiate and conduct research on several aspects of geriatric psychiatric illnesses; and establish workshops on the care of patients with geriatric psychiatric disorders. With your support we provided $36,000 for Senior Training Fellowships. Church Relations We are very fortunate to have Deepika Srivastava (r) on our staff part-time managing Church Relations. Deepika was born at CMC and is the grand-daughter of General Superintendent Rev. A. S. Savarirayan. In July Deepika represented the Foundation at the Annual Conference of the International Council of Community Churches, where she established new contacts and rekindled some dormant relationships. US Medical Students Taking Global Health Electives at CMC With your support the Foundation is able to assist American medical students with travel and housing logistics as they pursue electives in global health at CMC. Pictured here is Weill Cornell Medical College’s 2016 Ida S. Scudder Fellow (funded by the Scudder family) Justin Haseltine with Dr. Madelon Finkel, Foundation Board Secretary, Professor and Director Office of Global Health Education at Weill Cornell Medical College. We Hosted Dr. Anil Kuruvilla and Dr. Anu Rose One of the proudest roles we are able to play with your support is to host the leaders of CMC when they visit the US. This year we were doubly honored. Dr. Anil Kuruvilla, (‘82) Deputy Director for Administration and Foundation Board member (l) and Dr. Anu Rose (‘90) (Asst. Professor and Coordinator of the Jawadhi Hills Model Village Project) attended the Foundation’s Annual meeting in May. The Foundation is Supporting US Alumni Who Host CMC Visiting Faculty One of the Foundation’s goals is to provide CMC with greater visibility in the US by reaching out to our alumni from all three areas at CMC: Medical, Nursing and Allied Health. Our objective is to build an even stronger alliance that includes CMC graduates of all ages who can support multifaceted efforts to build CMC’s presence here. This photo is of CMC alumni at a wonderful celebration hosted in April by the Foundation’s Board Chair, Dr. Honorine Ward (’69). The reception and dinner included Tufts faculty, local alumni and visiting CMC faculty who were in Boston to advance a collaborative project with Tufts University.
V I S I T U S T O D AY AT V E L L O R E C M C . O R G / M A K E - A - D O N AT I O N 3
Never Underestimate the Difference YOU Can Make
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one of this would be possible without your generosity. With every dollar raised we pledge to you that The Foundation is working hard to earn your trust and your financial support! Help us reach our goal to be a full partner with CMC as it achieves global leadership in research and education, while maintaining its passion for the health and well being of all people in India, regardless of their positions in life. The power you have to make a difference is substantial. This holiday season, we ask that you not only care, but also give. Thank you. To donate online, visit VELLORECMC.ORG/MAKE-A-DONATION Or mail your check to: Vellore CMC Foundation, Inc., 475 Riverside Drive, Suite 725, New York, NY 10115 We’ve also included an envelope for your convenience. PRESIDENT
MEMBERS OF THE CORPORATION*
INSTITUTIONAL MEMBERS
Katherine D. Guenther
Varkey K. Abraham, MD (’55) C.J. Alexander, MD Saramma Alexander, MD (’60) Rev. Ben Chan (American Baptist Church USA) Abraham Fenn Cheriyan, MD (’71) Susan Cherian, PhD (CON ’75) Vasantha Daniel (CON) Rev. Lisa Durkee Anindya Dutta, MD (’75) Robert Fish, DMD (The Scudder Association) Rev. Y. Franklin Ishida (ELCA) Diane Jedlicka, PhD Cyrus Kapadia, MD (’59-’60) Shanta Kapadia, MD (’59-’60) Shanker Krishnamurthy, MD (’65) Rev. BBC Kumar Margaret Kumar, PhD (CON ’67) Rev. Dr. Deenabandhu Manchala (Global Ministries/UCC) Rebekah Mani (AHS) Susan Mathew (CON ’69) Thomas Mathew, MD (AHS ’89) Krishen Mehta Arjun Mohandas, MD (’86) Renu Mohandas, MD (’86) Tina Narayan, MD (’73) Jim Oehrig (American Leprosy Missions) John J. Paul, PhD Catherine Poornaselvan (CON) Puthucode N. Rajamani Rev. William Sadler Rev. Elizabeth Senft Jane Srinivasan, MD (’59) John Stevens, III Mark W. Tibbetts, PhD Robin Varghese, MD Nissi Varki, MD (’68) Abraham Verghese, MD Elise Youth, PhD Rex Zachariah
American Baptist Churches USA, Valley Forge, PA American Leprosy Missions, Greenville, SC Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), Indianapolis, IN Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, Chicago, IL General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists, Silver Spring, MD Presbyterian Church (USA), Louisville, KY Reformed Church in America, New York, NY The Scudder Association, Darien, CT Southern Baptist Convention, Richmond, VA United Church of Christ, Cleveland, OH United Methodist Church, New York, NY
BOARD OF DIRECTORS Officers Honorine Ward, MD (’69), Chair George Varughese, Vice Chair Prasad Palla, Treasurer Madelon Finkel, PhD, Secretary Directors S. Balasubramaniam, MD (’58-’59) Niranjan Bose, PhD Bobby J. Cherayil, MD (’74) Meredith Hawkins, MD Sajiv John, MD (’78) Albert Johnson, MD (’61) Emma Koshi Anil Kuruvilla, MD (’82) Mike Lecik, PhD (General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists) Bibhuti Mishra, MD (’71) Aparna Muralidharan Raj Narayan, MD (’69) Philip Ninan, MD (’69) Thomas Philips, PhD H. David Reines, MD William Scudder (The Scudder Association) Mark Steinhoff, MD James H. Taylor, MD Thomas Ponna Thurairatnam, MD (’73) Christine Wanke, MD Honorary Directors Margaret Brand, MD (1919-2014) Lucile Carman Robert Carman, MD Mani Mani, MD (’55) Anish Mathai Edwina Scudder-Youth
FOUNDATION STAFF Katherine D. Guenther, President Patricia Carroll, Manager of Business & Finance Deepika Srivastava, Church Relations * In addition to those listed, members of the Board are Corporation members.
475 Riverside Drive, Suite 725 New York, NY 10115 800-875-6370 or 212-870-2640 fax: 212-870-2173 vellorecmc.org foundation@vellorecmc.org
VOICES OF VELLORE IS AVAILABLE ONLINE AT VELLORECMC.ORG 4